Red River Valley Fair draws near-record attendance

WEST FARGO (KFGO) — This year’s Red River Valley Fair in West Fargo was the second best attended in the fair’s history. The fair says 143,740 people attended.

Lauren Daigle and Josiah Queen and Nick Hall, presented by Pulse ND, drew a crowd of 12,800 people to close out the fair on Sunday.

Sarah Bunyea, a spokesperson for Pulse North Dakota, called the sold-out show a record “the largest grandstand event to date at the fair” in a press release.

When asked about the numbers, she replied it is the “official attendance record per the Red River Valley Fair. There have been changes in how they calculate attendance data since those years.”

In 2013, Hunter Hayes had a crowd of 18,200 while The Band Perry topped that with 21,000 people in attendance.

Last year, Blake Shelton was only able to draw around 5,500 people.

CEO Cody Cashman says fair leaders listened to feedback, made big changes, and the community came out in force.

“We poured everything we had into this year’s Fair,” Director of Marketing and Partnerships Erin Fons said.  “The Fargo-Moorhead community and beyond showed up in such a meaningful way.”