What a difference a year makes.
With heat advisories for the first three days and rain on the final day, last year's attendance at the Waukesha County Fair struggled mightily.
This year, however, with comfortable temperatures and no rain throughout the fair's five-day run, the Waukesha County Fair was one of the best attended in the event's 172-year history.
'We had an amazing fair this year,' said Shari Black, the fair's executive director. 'Finally, the weather cooperated with us.'
Black said 133,725 people (an average of 26,745 people per day) attended the annual event, which wrapped up July 20 on the Waukesha County Expo Center Grounds.
Last year about 88,250 people attended the fair (about 17,650 people per day), a year when heat indexes were at or above 100 degrees for a majority of the fair's run. Rain also forced the fair's main concert on the last day to be canceled.
This year's attendance total was also more than the successful 2012 fair, when about 125,000 people attended the fair. The last time the fair reached at least 130,000 visitors was in 2009.
Black credits her team for the fair's continued success.
'I want to thank all of the fair board members, committee and association members, volunteers and staff who gave us their all again this year to put on an exceptional event,' Black said. 'Without their hard work and dedication, we would not have such an outstanding fair.'