DEL MAR -- Fairgoers squeezed in one more corn dog, one more thrill ride and one more chance to watch Monster Trucks stir up mountains of dirt during the closing events Sunday of this year's 21-day San Diego County Fair.

Tim Kern of San Diego and three friends had crowds laughing at the entrance gates at the sight of four tall men leading nonsense cheers in bad wigs and plus-size cheerleader outfits.

"The fair's theme is Summer of Sports, and they wanted the biggest cheerleading squad," Kern said, pausing to stand taller. "We're the biggest."

At a grandstand inside the gates, Zach Johnson of Kansas City was wrapping up his 11th summer at the Del Mar Fairgrounds acting as "swine master" for Swifty Swine's Racing Pigs.

"I've had a lot more first-time pig racing fans this year," said Johnson, who has scheduled stops at 18 more fairs around the country.

"We're happy to see everybody every year, but we're ready to move on," he said.

Ellen Payton, 15, of Poway a member of the Future Farmers of America, was keeping watch over her Suffolk goat on display in one of the fair's popular livestock barns.

"This has been my favorite fair so far. There are so many more people I know this year," said Payton, who has been coming to county fairs since she was a first-grader.

She had a matter-of-fact explanation of where her goat and other animals sold at the fair's auction would be headed. "They go on trucks to the slaughterhouse," she said.

Erik Anderson of Ocean Beach, who was finishing up his 15th year as a seasonal electrician at the fair, was less prosaic.

"You see everybody here at the fair. It's families or young adolescents in love, trying to win a prize for their sweeties, interspersed with the smell of animal poop and high-octane fuel," he said, grinning.

At the game arcades by the thrill rides Sunday, Chris Sumner of San Diego said he used to win prizes for Jamie, now his wife. With their two children, ages 2 and 6, in tow, Chris vowed, "I'll try again," after describing a big stuffed bear he once won for her.

"I'm more into jewelry now," Jamie said.

By Saturday, 1,154,838 people had visited this year's fair, compared to 1,122,915 counted during the same number of days a year ago, according to attendance numbers released Sunday.

"It's been great. It's been fun," said fair spokesperson Kina Paegert. "We're doing very well this year, considering the slow economy."

She said she expected most of the fair's arcades, food booths, thrill rides and exhibits would be packed up overnight and gone by Monday morning.