Iowa State Fair attendance dips in 2010

Attendance for the just-completed 2010 Iowa State Fair slipped below the 1 million mark for the first time in nine years.

Unaudited daily ticket sales indicate 967,381 people attended the 11-day event, according to figures released today by fair officials.

That compared to 1,006,501 the previous year and the record of 1,109,150 set during the 2008 fair.

Fair officials said hot and humid weather, rain and the down economy all factored into this year's slump in attendance. The 2010 fair posted one day where attendance topped 100,000 people, which was 103,085 during the first Sunday (Aug. 15). Yesterday's daily attendance was 89,934.

This year's total through the gates was the lowest since about 969,000 people attended the 1999 Iowa State Fair. The annual summertime attraction has topped the 1 million mark for attendance every year since 2002 until this year's total ended that streak.