WEST SPRINGFIELD – Record crowds took in all the sights, sounds and food at this year’s Big E.
The regional state fair, which closed for the season on Sunday, set a new record for number of visitors attending. The Fair’s all-time high attendance figure hit 1,525,553.
Sue Gallup, spokesperson for the fair said, “The previous record, of 1,498,605, was set in 2014. October 1 attendance was 137,208, also a new record for the final Sunday of the 17-day Fair.”
The all-time highest single day attendance record was also broken when 171,897 visitors attended Saturday, Sept. 23. Three additional daily attendance records were set: Sept. 21, 85,019; Sept. 28, 89,905; and Sept. 29, 109,871.
Eugene J. Cassidy, president and chief executive officer of the Exposition, said, “ Patrons of New England’s Great State Fair braved days of punishing temperatures that pushed the heat index to above 100 degrees, they endured a 55 degree drop in temperature accompanied by rain, and yet they came in great numbers to participate in, enjoy and support this organization and all it stands for.”
