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Total attendance at the 2026 California State Fair, scheduled to move to September next year, showed a slight decline over 2025 attendance totals, fair officials announced.
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Total attendance for the 17-day fair reached more than 650,000.
In 2025, the fair at Cal Expo in Sacramento reported a total attendance of 700,000. Attendance figures in previous years ranged from 600,000 to 750,000.
The fair had more than 1 million visitors at its peak attendance in 2001.
Cooler weather during the first 10 days of the 2026 fair boosted attendance, but triple-digit temperatures on the final weekend, traditionally the busiest, cut into the number of visitors.
In 2027, the fair will be held Sept. 17 to Oct. 3 in hopes that cooler weather will bring out more fair goers.
Read more Attendance figures dip slightly for final summertime dates of California State Fair
“This year’s fair was especially meaningful, as it marked our final summer California State Fair,” Tom Martinez, CEO of the California Exposition and State Fair, said in a news release. “We’ve been listening to our fair goers, and we’re excited to return the fair to its historic roots,”
The first California State Fair in 1854 was held in October, Martinez said. It moved from Stockton Boulevard to its current site at Cal Expo in 1968.
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