State Fair Attendance Highest In A Decade

Illinois officials say this year's state fair had the highest attendance levels in more than a decade.

The governor's office says Thursday that more than 961,000 people attended the fair during its 11-day run this month.

That's up almost 5 percent from last year and the highest since 2002, when 1.2 million people went through the fair's gates.

Ticket sales for concerts at the fair's Grandstand topped $2 million, up more than 29 percent from last year to a new record. More than 53,000 fans attended concerts at this year's fair.

The most popular performance was by country musician Toby Keith.