A ranking of top fairs and exhibitions has named the Erie County Fair the largest county fair east of the Rocky Mountains, the 4th largest county fair in the United States and 13th largest fair overall in North America in 2018. The ranking of fairs, based on attendance, is published annually by CarnivalWarehouse.com. The “Top 50 Fair” list includes all county and state fairs, exhibitions and rodeo shows in the United States and Canada.
#1 San Diego County Fair, Del Mar, CA 1,561,236 31 days
#2 Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA 1,470,636 31 days
#3 Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, CA 1,251,209 24 days
#4 ERIE COUNTY FAIR, HAMBURG, NY 1,198,789 12 days
“This ranking is something that the entire Buffalo-Niagara region can take pride in accomplishing,” said Marty Biniasz, Erie County Fair Marketing Manager. “When looking at the ranking, you need to consider that the Erie County Fair out draws most state fairs in the United States. The west coast county fairs that rank above us benefit from a much longer operating run and are located in top 10 US population markets.”
In 2018, the “Best 12 Days of Summer” in Western New York State concluded with a final attendance of 1,198,789. This is a .46% increase from 2017 and was the second highest attended Fair in the Erie County Fair’s history. The all-time record was achieved in 2014 with 1,220,101.
The following is CarnivalWarehouse.com’s 2018 Top 25 Fairs:
#1 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Houston, TX – 2,408,550
#2 Texas State Fair, Dallas, TX – 2,049,118
#3 Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN – 2,046,533
#4 San Antonio Livestock Show, San Antonio, TX – 1,900,000
#5 San Diego County Fair, Del Mar, CA – 1,561,236
#6 Eastern State Exhibition, Springfield, MA – 1,543,470
#7 Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA – 1,470,636
#8 Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, ON – 1,400,000
#9 Great New York State, Syracuse, NY – 1,279,010
#10 Calgary Stampede, Calgary, ALB – 1,271,241
#11 Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, CA – 1,251,209
#12 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, Fort Worth, TX – 1,214,000
#13 ERIE COUNTY FAIR, HAMBURG, NY – 1,198,789
#14 Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, IA – 1,130,260
#15 Arizona State Fair, Phoenix, AZ – 1,107,696
#16 Washington State Fair, Puyallup, WA – 1,100,000
#17 Wisconsin State Fair, West Allis, WI – 1,037,982
#18 Tulsa State Fair, Tulsa, OK – 1,025,000
#19 North Carolina State Fair, Raleigh, NC – 977,256
#20 Ohio State Fair, Columbus, OH – 908,306
#21 Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, IN – 860,131
#22 Oklahoma State Fair, Oklahoma City, OK – 850,000
#23 K Days, Edmonton, ALB – 808,009
#24 National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO – 705,574
#25 Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, BC – 705,381
See complete list at: http://carnivalwarehouse.com/files/top50/2018list.pdf