Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Visitors to the 2021 Great New York State Fair will find an explosion of state culture. Concert music harmonizes with family chatter and creaky fair rides, and the smell of the livestock barn mixes with the sweetness of fried food from the colorful vendors that line the streets like a rainbow. But one thing you won’t find? Crowds.

Daily attendance numbers show a significant decrease in attendance this year, according to the fair’s attendance tracker. On Saturday, there were 82,882 fewer people who visited the fair — which is open for its final day of the 2021 season on Monday — compared to the same day in 2019.

Dave Bullard, the marketing and public relations manager for the fair, said that the consistently low attendance numbers are due to COVID-19 and the delta variant.

“New York state took the virus very seriously, more seriously than most states,” Bullard said. “Our numbers are a reflection of the fact that New Yorkers continue to take it very seriously. A lot of folks are saying this isn’t their year.”

Many notable changes were put into effect this year, some happening as soon as early August to accommodate for changing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the delta variant became more prevalent.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon signed an executive order on Aug. 10 that mandates fairgoers to wear masks within buildings at the fair. Other changes included some parking lots only accepting cashless or contactless payments. Additionally many food and retail vendors did not participate in this year’s fair, and many visitors noticed fewer people and more empty space within the fairgrounds.

One fairgoer told the Daily Orange the lack of people made the event seem more like a county fair.
Katie Hopsicker | The Daily Orange

Parking attendants Alexis Carter and Justen Cage noticed a notable decrease in fair staff and attendance. Carter said that this year, the parking lots have rarely been full and most traffic has been caused by concert-goers who came to the fair to see big names such as Foreigner, Train and Three Dog Night.

“When we went to do our interviews they were thanking us, saying we really appreciate you coming, we need people because it’s so hard,” Cage said.

Bullard said in an average year, the last weekend of the fair would be the biggest and most attended. While he would not predict final numbers, he said the fair backloaded the concert lineup — with acts such as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and AJR — to promote attendance during the final days of the fair.

Krissi Altier of West Monroe visits each year with her mother, Susan Tyler of Minoa. In addition to walking around the fairgrounds, Altier went to the REO Speedwagon concert.

“This is really weird,” Altier said. “The fair was dead, (but) the concert was packed.”

She said the lack of people made the event seem more like a county fair, and she was disappointed about the lack of vendors. Altier normally buys a new purse at the fair each year, but this year she came home empty-handed.

About 65 of the fair’s regular vendors announced that they wouldn’t be attending this year’s fair, syracuse.com reported. That’s about 10% of the total vendors deciding not to return to the fair compared to the roughly 5% who typically don’t return.

However, Bullard said people are loving the wide-open space this year. Tyler thought otherwise.

“It’s so lonely here,” she said. “It’s terrible.”

Despite the underwhelming crowd this year, Bullard recognizes that hosting the fair is a “significant” sign that New Yorkers are closer to the end of the pandemic than the beginning of it. The fair gave a lot of people hope, he said.

Bullard said that the fair celebrates and carries forward the legacy of New York’s community, and as many families visit together, the tradition is passed down through generations. The lack of visitors this year due to the pandemic will not stop the state’s traditions, the marketing manager said.

“People have the fair in their bones,” Bullard said.

Published on September 6, 2021 at 2:17 am