ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – It was a banner year for the Alaska State Fair, according to fair officials. On Monday, total attendance numbers were released for the 2025 season. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew we were having a huge fair,\u201d said Alaska State Fair CEO Jeff Curtis. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that just by the eye element, just visually trying to walk through the event, but we really don\u2019t know until we really look at the data that we have and the tools we have to count.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Curtis, a total of 388,000 people attended the fair between August 25 and September 1, breaking a record set in 2024, when 370,000 people attended. <\/p>\n
Besides attendance, several other records were set at this year\u2019s fair. <\/p>\n
Curtis told Alaska\u2019s News Source that some of the largest crops ever were entered in contests this year, including an 1,800-pound pumpkin, a 27-pound eggplant, and a 30-inch cucumber. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just that fun part of the fair where people take a lot of pride in entering and they grow their vegetables to try to win these state records,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Curtis added that he felt the increase in attendance reflects the growth of the state culturally and economically. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows that Alaskans really pride themselves in their fair. They want to be part of it, they like to celebrate what\u2019s unique to Alaska,\u201d Curtis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have that many people walking through the gates, paying admission, buying their concert tickets, especially now we have two years of incremental growth, that\u2019s a pretty exciting thing.\u201d<\/p>\n