The San Diego County Fair generated a record $3.33 million in revenue from the grandstand on nearly 60,000 tickets sold in 2024, but overall attendance during the month-long fair dropped about 12% from 2023, according to a fair recap at the Del Mar Fairgrounds Sept. 10 board of directors meeting.

There were performances by artists such as TLC, Pepe Aguilar, Whiskey Myers, Kings of Late Night, Smokey Robinson, Pancho Barraza, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and others.

Overall the fair drew approximately $49.3 million in revenue, including what will likely be at least $10 million of net revenue, according to the fairgrounds.

This year’s theme was “Let’s Go Retro,” with the usual fair favorites as well as a special exhibit and themed events celebrating food, music, art and more of the 1950s to the 1990s. The fair also ran through July 7, past its usual Fourth of July finale, to include one last full weekend.

There were 877,420 attendees at this year’s fair from June 12 to July 7, which is down from almost 1 million in each of the two years before. Average daily attendance also declined from a little more than 46,000 in 2022 to 45,351 in 2023 to just under 44,000 this year.

There were also 2,300 tickets sold for Saturdays at the Sound, a weekly show that debuted this year with “spectacular theatrical experiences combining high-energy music and dance with lighting, lasers and special effects.” Performances included “Paramount’s Laser Spectacular,” with the music of Pink Floyd set to an array of lasers, lighting, video and other visual effects, as well as iLuminate, one of the finalists in the sixth season of “America’s Got Talent.”

The fair board is also moving forward with a “Pet-sational Summer” theme for the 2025 fair. Board members felt that the original tagline, “Unleash the Magic,” did not work well with the “Love ‘em and Leash ‘em” pet owner responsibility campaign by potential fair partner San Diego Humane Society.