The PNE has wrapped up for another year, and data shows the beloved summer fair is inching closer to pre-pandemic attendance levels.
In a Tuesday media release, fair operators said more than 626,000 people turned out to partake in music, rides, exhibits and food.
That figure is up nearly 100,000 attendees from the 2022 fair, when nearly 530,000 came out, and a huge increase from the pandemic-limited 2021 fair when just 239,000 people attended.
It is also closing in on the attendance for the last pre-pandemic year, 2019, when more than 730,000 people came to the PNE.
“The combination of new attractions, the Summer Night Concerts lineup and traditional favourites really resonated with our guests this year,” PNE president and CEO Shelley Frost said in the release.
“Overall, the 2023 Fair was a tremendous success. We want to thank the hundreds of thousands of guests who continue to make the PNE Fair part of their summer, our vendors and partners, all of the performers and our staff team for making this year so special.”
PNE organizers say visitors this year gulped down more than 40,000 slushies and noshed on more than 12,000 spiraled potato sticks and 6,000 racks of ribs.
On the midway, visitors whacked 120,000 Whac-a-mole moles and threw 315,000 rings at the Ring Toss game, while an estimated 11,000 people rode the new PNE Express Train.
Festivities wrapped up Monday evening with a concert by Blue Rodeo bidding farewell to the PNE Amphitheatre, which is slated for demolition ahead of construction on a new, covered facility.
That new amphitheater is expected to open in 2026.
The draw for the $2.3 million PNE Prize Home will take place on Monday.