State fair attendance: Albuquerque dips, Las Cruces gains

NEW MEXICO – While attendance at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque dropped by about two-fifths this year, the number of people attending the state's second largest fair — the Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo outside Las Cruces — increased by about 40 percent.

The COVID-19 pandemic canceled both events in 2020, so officials compared this year's numbers to 2019.

State Fair General Manager Dan Mourning said last week that 275,467 people attended the nine-day event in Albuquerque from Sept. 9-19, a 41.6% decrease from the 2019 fair, which drew 472,415 visitors. Revenue figures weren’t available yet but it’s likely the 2021 fair’s decreased attendance generated less than the 2019 fair’s revenue figure of over $5 million, he said.

The fair for 2021 instituted health safety requirements that included requiring people to show a COVID-19 vaccination card in order to enter and to wear a mask in all indoor spaces. The restrictions led to the fair’s cancelation of the usually well-attended New Mexico Youth Livestock Expo after most of the parents of exhibitors said they would not attend.

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Mourning said 425 exhibitors were originally scheduled to participate, but only 20 indicated they’d still participate after the mandates were announced.

“We couldn’t do it with just 20 people,” Mourning said. “That’s not putting on a show.”

Instead, the youth exhibitors participated in a show on private property in Roswell without the requirements.

The fair was still a success, Mourning said.

“A pleasant surprise for us was that people were spending money, the vendors and concessionaires that came out here made money,” Mourning said.

And the people attending the fair “had an amazing experience,” he said. “They were back out among their neighbors and in a safe environment.”

Southern New Mexico State Fair

Travis Brown, fair manager for the Southern New Mexico State Fair, said revenue and attendance numbers for the five-day event from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 are not finalized. Internet connectivity at the gate was lost several times throwing off box office numbers.

But, based on the information they have at this point, Brown said final attendance numbers will likely be around 39,000 to 41,000 people, a 40 percent increase in attendees from 2019.

Also, more than $690,000 was generated by the Junior Livestock Sale in support of southwest New Mexico and El Paso youth exhibitors — a new record, Brown said. He added that the baked goods auction raised almost $9,000 more than in 2019.

On the other hand, vendor and sponsorship numbers were down this year by about 15 to 20 percent.

“Just as everyone else is facing, we also experienced increased costs in numerous areas,” Brown said.

But after a year of canceled events, Brown said turnout at the Southern New Mexico Fairgrounds exceeded their expectations.

Unlike the state fair in Albuquerque, attendees were not required to show proof of vaccination at the Doña Ana County event.

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New Mexico on Friday extended its mask mandate for indoor spaces across the state, citing persistently high levels of community spread. In extending the mask mandate, state health officials said the goal was to reduce pressure on the health care system.

A separate public health order requiring health care workers to be vaccinated remains in place. School workers also are required to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing.

On Monday, the state reenacted crisis standards of care for the state's hospital network, owing to a lack of resources sufficient to meet the demand for care. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.