Opening day of the Wisconsin State Fair drew thousands, despite lingering smoke in the air from Canadian wildfires.
Following record high attendance last year, the fair opened on Thursday morning with over 100 new food and beverage options as well as a new Dairy Building.
The 2024 Wisconsin State Fair set a record-high attendance of 1,136,805, up 9% from 2023.
Among its standard offerings like Wisconsin cheese curds and corn on the cob, the 2025 fair features new items like Mexican street corn pizza from Charlie’s Pizza, a blueberry breakfast bratwurst from Milwaukee Brat House, and a Purple Rain Refresher from Rock & Roll Beer Garden, all of which were nominated for the 2025 Sporkies & Drinkies.
The Purple Rain Refresher as well as the Ube Butter Banana French Toast Lumpia from Lumpia City took first place in this year’s Sporkies & Drinkies. Second and third place awards were given to the Brat Rangoon from Würstbar and the Mexican street corn pizza, respectively.
The fair also debuted its new Dairy Building, formerly the Original Cream Puff Pavilion, which underwent a $12.5 million remodel over the past year. Fairgoers packed the new building on day one for a single or multi-pack of the fair’s beloved cream puff, now in original, chocolate or strawberry flavor. The newly renovated building is aimed to help the fair surpass its goal of selling more than its yearly average of 400,000 cream puffs.
Country music group Midland with Southall headlined the Bank Five Nine Main Stage on Thursday evening, kicking off a series of other musical performances by artists like Boyz II Men with Bobby V, NE-YO with Bryce Vine, and Darius Rucker with Uncle Kracker. Comedian Gabriel Iglesias and KIDZ BOP LIVE will also headline the Main Stage later in the fair.
The Wisconsin State Fair began on Thursday, July 31 and will run through Sunday, Aug. 10. Shortly following the fair, NTT IndyCar and Indy NXT will return to the Milwaukee Mile at State Fair Park on August 23-24 to race for a second year as part of a three-year contract with the track.
