2013 California State Fair Attendance Up Despite Being One Day Shorter

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — While people had one less day to enjoy the California State Fair, attendance still was up in 2013.

The fair, which ended Sunday, attracted 697,000 people this year, which is an increase of 4,000 visitors, despite being a day shorter.

Daily attendance was up 6.5 percent with an average of 41,000 people per day.

Juicy's Grill's hamburgers and turkey legs sold well this year as they are reporting what they describe as "very good profits."

"I thought it was pretty awesome, everything was just amazing," said Janet Curtis with Juicy's.

While not all of the vendors had big gains like Juicy's, overall attendance did surge during the final weekend.

"We had 80,000 guests on the ground on Saturday. We had over 70,000 yesterday, so we are very pleased that people showed up at the end of the fair," said Michele Prater, the fair's marketing director.

But not everyone was on their best behavior. One fairgoer captured a fight on Sunday evening on his cellphone. No serious injuries were reported.

Seth Vorland, who runs a sunglasses and jewelry stand, says he had to rent a U-Haul truck because his $5,000 trailer is now gone.

"We were trying to break down and realized the trailer we load everything on was stolen."

The trailer is gone, and he hopes insurance will cover most of the costs. Despite the theft, he says he'll be back for next year's fair.