THE Wisconsin State Fair was hit by flash floods causing fairgoers to wade through water to escape.

Officials brought festivities to an early end on Saturday night after the region was lashed by up to nine inches of rain in a matter of hours, causing rivers to burst their banks.

The National Weather Service had issued numerous threat-to-life flood warnings for a number of areas in the southeast of the state, including Milwaukee where the fair is held.

Footage coming from the fair shows attendees forced to wade through the flood waters, which was almost waist-high in places, in order to escape.

Meanwhile, many returned to their vehicles to find flood waters submerging the doors.

Other locals reported seeing cars “floating around town” while thousands were left without power.

“We were there. Totally soaked and grossed out by the stand water we had to wade through to get out,” one fairgoer said on Facebook.

“Wisconsin is flooding ..people are stuck at state fair and cars are floating all around town,” another said.

“We understand the disappointment you may feel, as our team works all year for these 11 days,” Fair officials said as they canceled the celebrations.

“However, the safety of our fairgoers, team, partners and vendors will always be our top priority.”

The fair closure also canceled the highly anticipated concert of Lynyrd Skynyrd which was the music headline that evening.