State Fair ends 10-day run

Posted on August 22, 2016
Illinois State Fairgrounds
The 2016 Illinois State Fair concluded on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Illinois State Fair)

By RFD Radio/WFMB

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Fair ended its 10-day run on Sunday.

The state’s big party that doubles as a celebration of agriculture was besieged with bad weather this year. Historic rains hit the fairgrounds on the first Friday of the fair and then continued rains throughout the week hampered efforts to pack the grounds with people. Veteran fair vendors said this was the worst fair they had for selling items, some said their revenues were off 50 percent from last year. The Department of Agriculture is waiting to announce attendance, this year they are going to weigh all the tickets to determine how many people attended the fair.

Illinois State Police report the arrest of a 17-year-old girl following a stabbing at the fair on Saturday night. Police say a 16-year-old girl was injured in the incident that happened in the carnival area of the fair. She was expected to be released from the hospital on Sunday. Police say it was an isolated incident.

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