The cost of admission to the South Dakota state fair will increase after a decision from the state Rules Review committee.
The adult gate fee will go from $6 to $10, while the youth price will increase from $4 to $5. Those rates haven’t been touched since 2015, when they were increased by one dollar. Before then, they were raised in 2008 by a dollar.
All six legislators voted to approve the change. There was no opposing testimony.
Peggy Besch manages the state fairgrounds in Huron. She said her organization is struggling to keep up with maintaining and updating infrastructure.
“It is challenging to maintain the level of service our customers and visitors to the fairgrounds have come to expect,” Besch said, noting the state fair has one of the cheapest gate fees in the region.
Increased labor costs have also made it hard to perform basic maintenance and support the fair’s operations, according to state Agriculture Secretary Hunter Roberts.
“We need to stay in the market to have staff,” Roberts said. “If you don’t have staff to keep things clean, to keep things going, you don’t have a fair.”
Besch pointed to a variety of cost saving opportunities for attendees, including free admission the day before the fair officially starts. She also said the fair is working on an option to buy discounted tickets in advance.
The state fair is scheduled for the last weekend of August in Huron, South Dakota.