The annual Big E fair wrapped up Sunday with record attendance. More than 1.63 million people attended the event in West Springfield during its 17-day run.
This year’s record eclipsed the previous all-time record in 2019 by about 4,000 people.
The Big E set seven daily attendance records this year and drew about 500,000 people during the Friday through Monday in the middle of the fair. On Saturday, Sept. 21, 178,608 came through the turnstiles, making it the highest attended day in the event’s history.
This year's event was also bolstered by good weather, unlike 2023 which was hampered by rain. All of this impacts the financial picture for the non-profit Eastern States Exposition, which puts on the Big E. Its President and CEO, Gene Cassidy, said the organization figures to profit about $5 million this year, up $1.5 million from the year before.
"For as sunny as it was this year, it was rainy last year and when that happens, we have to curtail our ability to maintain our structures,” Cassidy said. “You know the buildings as old as they are, they need a lot of TLC."
There were some published reports and social media posts claiming the venue was overcrowded especially during the popular middle weekend. Cassidy disagreed with that, calling such reports "irresponsible" and that officials were ready to deal with a large crowd. He said that notion impacted attendance during the final weekend of the fair.
"This idea that people felt unsafe, perhaps there were some of those people there, but I think the propagation of that message is also in itself something that drives maybe people to say things that they maybe would not have otherwise felt."
Cassidy said the Big E works closely with local and state law enforcement to keep everyone safe. He said there was just one arrest incident during the middle weekend stemming from a domestic disturbance in a parking lot.