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Fair board pleased with attendance

By J.T. WHITEHOUSE 2 min read
Staff photos / R. Michael Semple Scott Rodgers of Youngstown, left, gives his favorite farm tractor a kiss as friend Carla Williams of Struthers takes a photo with her phone as the two attend opening day of the 180th Canfield Fair Sept. 2. The fair board said despite a sluggish start early in the fair’s run because of the heat and then rain, attendance numbers were strong — bolstered by sunny skies and warm temperatures the final two days.

CANFIELD -- Attendance at this year's Canfield Fair fell below 2025 figures, but not by much. Fair officials reported the 2026 attendance for the six days of the fair at 264,538. The five-year average is 267,615, making this year only 1.16% below that average.

The opening-day attendance on Wednesday was 20,554. Fair officials said it was the lowest since 2021 when only 17,549 people came through the gates. Last year's Wednesday total was 27,916.

Timm Schreiber, the fair board director in charge of admissions, attributes the lower than usual numbers to the high temperatures on Wednesday coupled with the more favorable forecast later in the week.

Thursday was on the low end as well. Many attended the opening ceremony with guest speaker Bernie Kosar and the C-130 flyover, but the weather didn't help the numbers and even had the fair directors closing early for the severe weather moving through the area. Thursday's numbers came in at 21,707, a drop from the 2025 total of 28,850.

Friday's attendance came in at 34,588, again down from the 2025 Friday total of 42,053. As Schreiber noted, people were moving plans to the weekend and the better forecast.

On Saturday, the attendance was 64,397. On Sunday, a whopping 73,715 came through the gates, making it the highest Sunday attendance since 2018. Last year's Sunday attendance was 69,737.

Monday rounded out the fair with a total attendance of 49,577 to make the six-day total 264,538. Monday almost hit last year's total of 50,320.

"Despite some weather challenges early in the week, we ended within 1% of the five-year average." Schreiber said in a news release. "We're proud of how consistently our community continues to show up for the Canfield Fair and grateful to everyone who celebrated the end of summer at the 180th fair."

Starting at /week.