Wisconsin Ag Connection - About 872,000 Attend 2008 Wisconsin State Fair

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About 872,000 Attend 2008 Wisconsin State Fair
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 08/11/2008

Sunny skies, endless agriculture programming and tantalizing fair food proved to the be perfect recipe for this year's Wisconsin State Fair. The event wrapped up last night with total attendance at 872,458--up nine percent from last year's numbers. State Fair Director Randy Prasse says there were a number of factors that contributed to higher than average turn out.

"Our message of family affordability, diverse programming and a fair experience to suit every age resonated with our fairgoers," Prasse said. "We are certainly thrilled with the safe, fun experience we were able to provide our guests and are thankful that Mother Nature provided great weather for all to enjoy."

The Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction celebrated its 40th anniversary auctioning off 26 animals including market steer, barrows and lambs, raising $127,600. A portion of the auction proceeds are awarded to the youth exhibiting the champion animals and the balance is used to produce the auction and support youth agriculture programs and scholarships. Nine animals were donated to charities by buyers

Meanwhile, the Hunger Task Force Day raised $6,600 and 109,200 pounds of food for the State Hunger Task Force. And don't forget about the cream puff! There were nearly 382,000 of the tasty treats sold during the 11-day fair. State Fair officials said eight of those days set single-day records for cream puff sales.

And finally, the fair office announced the results of their Website traffic during the event. While the fair was going on, over 1.4 million pages were accessed by people who were either making plans to come to the event or just checking out the daily updates.

Next year's Wisconsin State Fair will take place August 6-16, 2009.

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