Attendance figures ?

[Rick Rademacher]

Maybe it’s just a sign of our times. Jack says there was a record attendance at this year’s AirVenture.
https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/eaa-airventure-news-and-multimedia/eaa-airventure-news/eaa-airventure-oshkosh/07-30-2017-jack-j-pelton-delivers-closing-remarks-after-record-setting-airventure?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVdJMllqUmhZVEF5TkdJNCI sInQiOiJrSlBtc0VqNGhFemNSRDkwRDVWRmFTZ2pmN3BoVVBkR k1qYW54OTk5djFNVTZrYXdLU2pZV2dqdXNpbUkwM1B3eVZ4Q1p JdnkyUk5pdjRjU3VKRStTbGl3WGo2WnFvQWxCendZTDMwcUVqa FMyMTJwdUNtRm5Md2M1Z0dzc1wvK1YifQ%3D%3D

So, a record attendance means the largest?
Yet, the figures published for the 2000 show an attendance of 765,000.

https://web.archive.org/web/20000823125922/http://airventure.org/

It’s fine to be positive and upbeat but …..
Nevertheless, I enjoyed Oshkosh no matter how many others were there.

[azmedic85355]

I thought they said 590,000 earlier this week


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[Bill Greenwood]

How are attendance figures are counted? When I buy my week wristband, am I then one person or seven? EAA should know how many bands are sold each day, and release those figures. Just a guess on my part, but 75,000 might be a good day average, maybe less on some and more on others. Im trying to picture the crowd of 100,000 at some football games, but its hard to compare since people are spread out over several miles at EAA, and even Museum side and seaplane and from Terminal to ultralights. I dont think there are 600,000 people any one day. Just at very rough guess, but I may have read there are 25 food stops on field and at 600,000 they'd each have to serve 24,000 people or 3428 per day. so not likely. but at 75,000 theyd serve 3000, or 429 daily,sounds possible.
I know food takes longer or seems to than when Zaugs had the burgers and dogs moslty.
I think there were a lot of people, trams seemed pretty full, airplane and car parking and camping seemed full. I didnt go in vendor hangarsor Pioneer Filed or Museum during day. Warbird in review sessions were mostly full, as was seaplane base.

[FlyingRon]

Is that really a record? I thought they were closer to a million back a decade ago before the economy tanked, but I could be wrong.

This year certainly is more than we've seen in a long time. Friday and Saturday were more crowded than I've seen in a long time and so was airplane camping/parking even accounting for losses of space due to wet areas and loss of acreage to things like construction and the perimeter road.

[Jeff Point]

Keep in mind that the schedule for the event was longer in years past, and covered 10 or more days spanning 2 complete weekends, so comparing to old attendance numbers is apples to oranges.

The crowds this year were as large as I've ever seen in 32 years.

[CHICAGORANDY]

Tram ridership seemed to be at an all-time high. It was great to see so many young folks (I'm 68) and children in attendance...the future of aviation.

[FlyingRon]

Keep in mind that the schedule for the event was longer in years past, and covered 10 or more days spanning 2 complete weekends, so comparing to old attendance numbers is apples to oranges.

The crowds this year were as large as I've ever seen in 32 years.

Not in the 30 years I've been coming. It has always been exactly seven days with the last day pretty much a ghost town (as it is now). What has changed was that when I first started coming, the show opened on Friday. The EAA kept pushing it back over the years until we got to our current Monday opening.

[martymayes]

When I first attended in the early '80's is was 8 days, Sat. to Sat. My last visit in the '80's was 1985, where it was Fri-Fri. Still 8 days.

The schedule in 1985 was:

JULY 26 - AUGUST 2 — OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN
— 33rd Annual Fly-In Convention. Make
your plans now to attend the World's Greatest
and Most Exciting Aviation Event.

I think it was Dr. Jerry Cockrell that convinced them to move to the Fri start day. Then with the AirCarnival title it gradually evolved to what it is now.

10 days must have been before my time but Jeff has a point. An extra day of traffic count give or take can make a big difference.

[Bill Berson]

The schedule starts on Sunday July 23 -Sunday July 30. So 8 days.
Who knows what the official count includes?
I remember the 1 million numbers from decades ago. The aircraft numbers include nearby airports.

[FlyingRon]

Calling the first Sunday a day of the convention is a bit odd. There's nothing convention-wise going on really (though the social activity is in full swing). They don't even count it as a day for admission purposes. You get Sunday access free with Monday.

[mazdaP5]

The Saturday and Sunday before the convention are my favorite days!

[Joda]

They've played with the schedule many times over the years. Starting on different days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday) and running different lengths. In the late 70s the convention definitely ran two full weekends and the week in between. Personally, I think the current Monday thru Sunday makes the most sense. Sure worked out great this year!