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State Fair Counting Visitors By Weighing Tickets

  Illinois State Fair officials are trying a new method of counting attendance after a dramatic drop last year.   Half as many people went to the fair in 2015 compared with the year before.  The fair’s manager at the time said figures from previous years were inflated.

Kevin Gordon is in charge now.  

“I don’t want to talk about last year’s attendance, but I’ll tell you what. That’s a question that’s been asked I dunno how many times. I mean, I’ve had a fair manager, they actually had a wheel and they’d spin the wheel, and ‘hmmmmm …125,000,'" he said.  

This time around, workers will collect tickets at the gate, put them in a box, and weigh them. 

“And I’m excited to see where we’re at. I really am," he said.  

Dummy tickets will be given for anyone who gets in in free – kids under 12, and on certain days veterans and seniors.

The state fair opens in earnest today and runs through August 21st.

Amanda Vinicky moved to Chicago Tonight on WTTW-TV PBS in 2017.