The State Fair Commission met yesterday to discuss numbers from the 2018 South Dakota State Fair and look for ways to improve the event in 2019.
Attendance at the fair was 217,231, which was an increase of 2.5 percent over last year. Gate revenue increased by 3.6 percent. There was a 13 percent increase in grandstand ticket sales, which State Fair manager Peggy Besch attributed in part to the Toby Keith concert.
4-H livestock exhibits increased by 3 percent, while FFA exhibitors were up 14 percent.
Besch says work continues on the State Fair grandstand. An electrical upgrade of the Independent Midway food alley and renovations of the Family Living Center bathrooms are also on the horizon.
Commissioners planned to discuss a number of issues during an evening session, including changing over to larger beer tickets to prevent people from using tickets from last year or tickets that look similar and adding portable toilets at gate 3.
Discussion was also expected on possibly extending courtesy cart service to after the concerts, the beer policy for the dairy barn and the scheduling of 4-H, FFA, and Open Class livestock shows.