Final days of this year's Arkansas State Fair see fair weather, strong attendance.

Mahlia Miller (center), 14, screams Sunday as she drops on the Mega Drop ride on the final day of the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock.
Mahlia Miller (center), 14, screams Sunday as she drops on the Mega Drop ride on the final day of the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock.

Despite heavy rain that put a damper on the Arkansas State Fair’s attendance earlier in the week, fair numbers increased this weekend and even had a record-breaking day Saturday.

“We did finish strong,” fair spokesman Ralph Eubanks said on Sunday, the fair’s last day.

The fair had the largest number of people attend the event in a single day at 91,003 fair goers on Saturday, according to a news release. The previous record for most people to attend the fair in a single day was at 88,769 on a Saturday in 2012.

Overall though, the rain caused attendance to drop considerably, leaving this year’s count through the first nine days at 306,548 people, down from the 2017 fair, which was at 450,702 people, according to a release.

“We’re going to be significantly down from last year’s numbers,” Eubanks said.

This is in line with the number of days effected by rain, the most Eubanks could remember in at least the past 10 years, he said. There were four substantial days of rain, up from last year’s one rainy day.

Read Monday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more information.

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