By: Kayla Bremer
KBremer@klkntv.com
It's the last day at the state fair and officials are confident attendance will be up from last year.
Labor day is usually the highest in attendance for the fair and numbers for this year are already slightly higher.
This year is the third time the state fair has been held at its new home in Grand Island. After 109 years in Lincoln, people were skeptical on how fairgoers would react to the move. But after a record setting first weekend's attendance, its clear the fair is still a success. Dan McKun says, "I actually think it's going to be as big or a little better than last year. Grand island I think, grand island has done an outstanding job since the fair's moved out here."
Scott Steiner of Lincoln says, "just the way they have everything arranged...awesome facilities and just laid out really well."
Labor day is the last of the 11 days of the fair. Last year nearly 68,000 people walked through the gates on the holiday to enjoy the attractions one last time. With the new rides and deliciously good food on a stick, the fair's executive director, Joseph McDermott, is confident people will turn out again. "we will announce the attendance for the rest of the fair on Tuesday morning. But things have gone well and I'm anticipating a good number."
McDermott says they are using surveys to see if there has been more attendance from Lincoln. They targeted Lincoln this year in advertising to make sure people were aware of the fair's events.
They also added nearly 4,000 new parking spaces to accommodate fairgoers from out of town. They will release the final fair attendance Tuesday morning.
