ST. LOUIS • Fair St. Louis drew more people to Forest Park this weekend than any event has in more than a century, organizers said.

They came to see speedboats pulling acrobatic water skiers doing flips in the Grand Basin. They watched fireworks from Art Hill. They ate funnel cakes and heard big-name musical acts.

But as the three-day fair began to wind down Saturday afternoon, it was clear that moving it to Forest Park this year didn’t produce a flip side: traffic jams and destruction.

In fact, while thousands of fairgoers filled nearly every inch of space near the second stage to hear Dirty Muggs and En Vogue, much of the park was virtually empty. Bob Young of Clayton rode his bicycle along the park’s outer trails, normally filled with runners, bikers and strollers when weather is like Saturday’s, sunny and 80 degrees.

“The talk was, ‘How will we handle the crowds? How will we handle the traffic?’ ” Young said, standing beside his bike. He motioned behind him, toward the empty biking trail and the quiet handball courts., and the play area with no children in it.

“I’m enjoying the peacefulness,” he said.