Getting Answers: Was The Heat A Factor In Lower State Fair Attendance?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The attendance at the California State Fair dropped again in 2018 to its lowest number in years and organizers blamed the heat for the decrease.
575,250 people came to the 17-day Fair, which ran July 13-29.
A news release sent Monday afternoon stated "extreme heat for 9 days of the CA State Fair contributed to a decrease overall in attendance."
CBS13 looked into the high temperatures for the 2018 Fair compared to years past to see how much of a role the weather played.
The average temperature for the 2018 State Fair was nearly 97 degrees-- a full 6 degrees hotter than the 2015 Fair, which saw the highest attendance in the past seven years.
2018:
- Day 1 (July 13)- 96
- Day 2 (July 14)- 96
- Day 3 (July 15)- 92
- Day 4 (July 16)- 98
- Day 5 (July 17)- 99
- Day 6 (July 18)- 102
- Day 7 (July 19)- 99
- Day 8 (July 20)- 94
- Day 9 (July 21)- 94
- Day 10 (July 22)- 94
- Day 11 (July 23)- 99
- Day 12 (July 24)- 100
- Day 13 (July 25)- 104
- Day 14 (July 26)- 98
- Day 15 (July 27)- 94
- Day 16 (July 28)- 97
- Day 17 (July 29)- 90
The average temperature for the 17 days was 96.8 degrees.
SEE: Monorail Catches Fire At State Fair
In 2017, 636,628 people attended the State Fair- which ran from July 14-July 30. Five Fair days topped 100 degrees in 2017, compared to 3 in 2018; however, the 2017 Fair recorded two days in the 80s, while the 2018 Fair recorded none.
2017:
- Day 1 (July 14)- 95
- Day 2 (July 15)- 101
- Day 3 (July 16)- 105
- Day 4 (July 17)- 99
- Day 5 (July 18)- 88
- Day 6 (July 19)- 94
- Day 7 (July 20)- 92
- Day 8 (July 21)- 95
- Day 9 (July 22)- 100
- Day 10 (July 23)- 101
- Day 11 (July 24)- 89
- Day 12 (July 25)- 92
- Day 13 (July 26)- 95
- Day 14 (July 27)- 100
- Day 15 (July 28)- 98
- Day 16 (July 29)- 94
- Day 17 (July 30)- 96
The average temperature for the 17 days of the 2017 State Fair was 96.1 degrees.
In 2016, 673,237 people attended the State Fair- which ran from July 8-July 24-- earlier than the most recent two Fairs. The 2016 State Fair had 7 days with high temperatures in the 80s and only 3 days that topped 100 degrees.
2016:
- Day 1 (July 8)- 88
- Day 2 (July 9)- 85
- Day 3 (July 10)- 85
- Day 4 (July 11)- 91
- Day 5 (July 12)- 90
- Day 6 (July 13)- 99
- Day 7 (July 14)- 100
- Day 8 (July 15)- 96
- Day 9 (July 16)- 89
- Day 10 (July 17)- 84
- Day 11 (July 18)- 82
- Day 12 (July 19)- 87
- Day 13 (July 20)- 91
- Day 14 (July 21)- 90
- Day 15 (July 22)- 95
- Day 16 (July 23)- 102
- Day 17 (July 24)- 102
The average temperatures for the 17 days of the 2016 State Fair was 91.5 degrees.
The 2015 State Fair recorded its highest attendance in the past 7 years- 787,833 people. It ran from July 10-26 and not one day of the Fair saw a temperature in the triple digits. The temperature stayed in the 80s for five days and didn't get out of the 70s for the first day.
2015:
- Day 1 (July 10)- 79
- Day 2 (July 11)- 87
- Day 3 (July 12)- 86
- Day 4 (July 13)- 93
- Day 5 (July 14)- 89
- Day 6 (July 15)- 96
- Day 7 (July 16)- 95
- Day 8 (July 17)- 98
- Day 9 (July 18)- 93
- Day 10 (July 19)- 95
- Day 11 (July 20)- 99
- Day 12 (July 21)- 92
- Day 13 (July 22)- 86
- Day 14 (July 23)- 85
- Day 15 (July 24)- 90
- Day 16 (July 25)- 90
- Day 17 (July 26)- 90
The average temperature for the 2015 State Fair was 90.7 degrees.
The California State Fair used to be held in August, but that was changed in 2010 due to the number of school districts that start school in early- to mid-August.
At the time, the State Fair ran 18 days. It was shortened to its current 17 days in 2013.
In 2009, the State Fair was held August 21-September 7 and approximately 675,000 attended, despite the recession. Four Fair days were 100 degrees or hotter, while seven days stayed in the 80s.
2009:
- Day 1 (August 21)- 100
- Day 2 (August 22)- 92
- Day 3 (August 23)- 80
- Day 4 (August 24)- 88
- Day 5 (August 25)- 91
- Day 6 (August 26)- 92
- Day 7 (August 27)- 98
- Day 8 (August 28)- 99
- Day 9 (August 29)- 104
- Day 10 (August 30)- 89
- Day 11 (August 31)- 83
- Day 12 (September 1)- 94
- Day 13 (September 2)- 100
- Day 14 (September 3)- 102
- Day 15 (September 4)- 90
- Day 16 (September 5)- 87
- Day 17 (September 6)- 85
- Day 18 (September 7)- 89
The average temperature for the 2009 State Fair was 92.3 degrees.
In 2006, 941,502 people attended the State Fair, which ran August 11-September 4. The 22-day Fair closed every Monday, except Labor Day. The temperature never hit the triple digits, and 9 of the days were in the 80s.
2006:
- Day 1 (August 11)- 88
- Day 2 (August 12)- 91
- Day 3 (August 13)- 89
- Day 4 (August 15)- 83
- Day 5 (August 16)- 82
- Day 6 (August 17)- 92
- Day 7 (August 18)- 90
- Day 8 (August 19)- 90
- Day 9 (August 20)- 86
- Day 10 (August 22)- 94
- Day 11 (August 23)- 92
- Day 12 (August 24)- 91
- Day 13 (August 25)- 83
- Day 14 (August 26)- 89
- Day 15 (August 27)- 91
- Day 16 (August 29)- 84
- Day 17 (August 30)- 92
- Day 18 (August 31)- 95
- Day 19 (September 1)- 96
- Day 20 (September 2)- 90
- Day 21 (September 3)- 86
- Day 22 (September 4)- 92
The average temperature for the 2006 State Fair was 89.3 degrees.
In 2001, more than 1.04 million people visited the California State Fair, which ran August 17-September 3.
2001:
- Day 1 (August 17)- 100
- Day 2 (August 18)- 93
- Day 3 (August 19)- 93
- Day 4 (August 20)- 75
- Day 5 (August 21)- 82
- Day 6 (August 22)- 82
- Day 7 (August 23)- 86
- Day 8 (August 24)- 91
- Day 9 (August 25)- 96
- Day 10 (August 26)- 99
- Day 11 (August 27)- 102
- Day 12 (August 28)- 102
- Day 13 (August 29)- 91
- Day 14 (August 30)- 78
- Day 15 (August 31)- 87
- Day 16 (September 1)- 91
- Day 17 (September 2)- 95
- Day 18 (September 3)- 96
The average temperature for the record-breaking 2001 California State Fair was 91 degrees.