North Dakota State Fair

Analytics + Creative + Digital Marketing + Media + Pubic Relations + Websites

Key Takeaways

The North Dakota State Fair reached the highest attendance in its history in 2025 with more than 356,000 visitors
Strategic media planning, content creation, PR support and a unified digital approach drove record engagement and ticketing performance
Despite being the second wettest fair on record, the event set new highs in attendance, vendor participation, exhibits and race participation
Sold-out 18,000-seat grandstand performances added fresh momentum to an already iconic statewide tradition
Our ongoing collaboration elevated awareness, strengthened the visitor funnel and helped NDSF serve as a major tourism driver for North Dakota

Overview

The North Dakota State Fair has always set the bar high. Each summer, the goal isn’t just to put on a great fair, it’s to outdo the last one with more attendees, more sold-out concerts, more exhibitors and more experiences. As expectations grew, so did the opportunity to bring an already beloved event to a whole new level.

Through a long-standing partnership built on strategic thinking, real collaboration and a shared drive for excellence, we worked with NDSF and Noise to turn that ambition into reality. Together we aligned media, content, PR and digital efforts to fuel a modern, data-backed approach that helped the fair reach its best performance in history.

Challenge

The fair had a big vision: grow every key metric, grow its statewide and regional draw, and grow its impact as one of North Dakota’s major tourism engines. But 2025 brought a unique set of hurdles as it became the second-wettest fair in history.

At the same time, NDSF was expanding its footprint. Vendor demand was rising, exhibitor participation was growing and new programming like an expanded 5K and a brand-new bull riding event needed to find their audience fast. The fair had to perform at its best while operating in unpredictable weather and delivering on rising expectations.

Strategy & Approach

We built a strategy focused on clarity, coordination and momentum. This included:

A unified paid media approach that ensured all digital efforts worked in harmony to drive awareness and ticketing
Full media planning and placement that reached the right audiences across North Dakota and surrounding states
Rich content creation including video, onsite coverage and storytelling assets that captured the energy of the fair and fueled engagement
A refined visitor funnel strategy guiding people from early awareness to ticket purchases to onsite participation
Public relations support and proactive communication planning to keep visitors informed
Website enhancements with NDSF to elevate the digital-first Visitor Guide and give attendees a better way to plan their fair experience

The result was a synced, modern marketing engine that could perform in perfect weather or pouring rain.

Execution

In the months leading up to the fair, we delivered a steady drumbeat of media, content and communications that built anticipation and drove early ticketing.

During the fair we shifted into high gear, scaling content capture, running real-time digital optimizations, pushing PR updates, supporting weather communications and helping NDSF deliver an elevated onsite experience. Our website enhancements helped bring their new digital Visitor Guide to life and made it easier for guests to navigate exhibits, concerts, vendors and new events.

The expanded slate of vendors, exhibitors and activities meant more stories to tell, more assets to produce and more touchpoints to support. We stayed connected with NDSF’s team on the ground, adjusting based on weather, crowd flow and daily performances to keep the fair moving forward.

Results

Even with one of the wettest years in its history, the 2025 North Dakota State Fair achieved unprecedented success.

0 ,000+

Attendees - highest in NDSF history

0 +

Commercial vendor spaces

Food vendors

0 ,076

Competitive exhibit entries

These results reflect a modern fair that continues to grow its footprint, elevate visitor experiences and deliver major tourism impact for the state.

Summary

The North Dakota State Fair set out to beat its own records and delivered its strongest performance ever, even with challenging weather. With a unified strategy, seamless collaboration and a commitment to creating meaningful visitor experiences, NDSF continues to grow as a statewide powerhouse and a key driver of North Dakota tourism.