Statistics Show Fish Fry WAS Bigger This Year

By Shannon McFarlin News Director

Paris, Tenn.–If you had the feeling there were more people at the World’s Biggest Fish Fry this year than before, you’d be right.

The city of Paris has released the Fish Fry Week statistics, showing an increase in the number of people who attended the Grand Parade and other events through the week.

Fish Fry General Manager John Paul Casey said the Jaycees are happy with the news, noting, “Everything went very well this year. We had good weather. We had bigger lines but wait times for the fish and the carnival were fairly low. Everyone waits year-long for this event, so this is a good news.”

From Saturday, April 20, through April 27, there were a total of 93,800 at the fairgrounds for Fish Fry events. And, our visitors to Paris came from 12 states.

From Sunday, April 28 through Saturday, April 27, a total of 13,000 people came back to the fairgrounds for the activities more than once.

A total of 51,900 people lined the parade route for the Grand Parade Friday, which was a 4.2 percent increase over last year and a total 29,000 people went to the fairgrounds to enjoy fish dinners and other activities after the parade, which is a 6.6 percent increase.

The biggest increase was seen on Thursday night at the fairgrounds, with 9,000 people at the fairgrounds, an increase of 36 percent over 2023.

On Saturday, April 27,  the total number in attendance at the fairgrounds was 34,000, which is an increase of 14 percent over last year.

Below are the Fish Fry Week Statistics provided by the city of Paris Administrative Assistant Jessica Crouch:

1. Wednesday (April 24^th):
   1. Fairgrounds: 7,800 people (decrease of 13% from 2023) (this # includes 2 children per household)

1.         6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. highest visit hours

1. Thursday (April 25^th):
   1. Fairgrounds: 9,000 people (increase of 36% from 2023) (this # includes 2 children per household)

1.         5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. highest visit hours

1. Friday (April 26^th):
   1. Grand Parade: 51,900 people (increase of 4.22% from 2023) (this # includes 3 children per household)
   2. Fairgrounds: 29,000 people (increase of 6.6% from 2023) (this # includes 2 children per household)

1.         6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. highest visit hours

1. Saturday (April 27^th):
   1. Fairgrounds: 34,000 people (increase of 14% from 2023) (this # includes 2 children per household)

1.         7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. highest visit hours

**Total # of people Saturday – Saturday (not including Grand Parade – only statistics on Fairgrounds): 93,800 people

**Average time of stay 140 minutes at Fairgrounds

**Visitors from 12 states

**From Sunday – Saturday (13K visitors came back to Fairgrounds more than once)

Photo: The World’s Biggest Fish Fry parade as it started downtown East Wood St. Shannon McFarlin photo.