ESCANABA – Attendance records will not be available until the end of the week but organizers of the Upper Peninsula State Fair feel the fair this year was a success.

Vickie Micheau, executive director of Delta Chamber of Commerce and managing agent of the U.P. State Fair, said the grandstands were full each night during the fair.

“We added an extra night of musical entertainment so it was busy all through the week and then the grand finale was the Armageddon on Wheels,” Micheau said. “I don’t think we have ever seen that many people in the grandstands on a Sunday. It was was a very popular event.”


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The Junior Market Livestock Auction on Saturday raised about $440-thousand dollars for the kids that showed animals at the fair. Micheau said the auction has become an important part of the fair.

“When we started with the fair operations, we knew the auctions happened that every Saturday during the fair there was this Junior Market Livestock Auction but I don’t think we ever knew the magnitude of that. It’s amazing how generous people are, how much they do to support the young exhibitors. I think it’s life changing,” said Micheau.

The U.P. State Fair Authority will meet in September to review the fair and begin plans for next year.