Minnesota State Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is one of the most popular state fairs in the country as it draws over 1.6 million people over 12 days almost every year. The fair runs from August 21 to September 1, Labor Day. Since 1949, the Minnesota State Fair has not received any public money and has paid for its own maintenance and up-keep. The state fair started the year Minnesota gained statehood, 1859, in the area that eventually grew into downtown Minneapolis. For several years, it was moved from city to city in the new state, but made its finally move to its current location. The grounds now cover an area of about 320 acres in the city of Saint Paul. Only five times has the fair not take place. In 1861 and 1862, it was canceled as a result of the Civil War and Dakota Indian Conflict. In 1893, the World Expo in Chicago trumped it. At the end of WW II in 1945, it was canceled due to low fuel supplies. The next year, 1946, the cancellation was due to an epidemic outbreak of polio.

One of the traditions at the fair is the dairy princess. The dairy princess, also known as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, is crowned at the beginning of the Minnesota State Fair and will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for Minnesota's nearly 5,000 dairy farmers. One of the first duties the dairy princess performs is sitting in a rotating refrigerated room and have her likeness carved into a 90 pound chunk of butter. All of the other 11 finalists also get to partake in this duty and also get their likeness carved in butter. Despite how silly it is, this exhibit is one of the fair’s annual must-see exhibits.

Another of the fair traditions is the food. Any food you can imagine on a stick. Each year there is something new, but there are also the old favorites like mini-donuts, cheese curds, Sweet Martha’s Cookies, pronto pups and much more.

Exhibits are another one of the fair’s big attractions, particularly the 4-H exhibits. All the winners from county fairs throughout the state of Minnesota come to the fair to display their animals, projects and work for all the visitors to see. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of commercial vendors also come to sell their products or at least plant the seed of a future sale.

Another part of the fair that used to be a huge attraction was machinery hill. Machinery hill was where farmers would come to see all the new tractors and implements, but as the fair has become more of a tourist attraction and less of an agricultural attraction it has lost out to commercialism and modern trends. These days machinery hill is mostly big overpriced lawn mowers, 4-wheelers, snow blowers, etc on display. Not too many combines or big tractors for kids to climb on anymore. :(

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"Fair History." Minnesota State Fair. Minnesota State Fair. 25 Aug 2008 http://www.mnstatefair.org

Things I saw on a stick:

1.) Cheese on a Stick
2.) Hot dog on a Stick (really a corn dog)
3.) Licorice on a Stick (really chocolate covered licorice)
4.) S'More on a Stick
5.) Pinball on a stick (arcade room)
6.) Long Dog on a stick (large corn dog)
7.) Buffalo on a Stick (shish kabob)
8.) Chocolate covered watermelon on a stick
9.) Crocodile on a Stick
10.) Banquet on a stick)
11.) Deep fried fruit on a stick
12.) Pork Chop on a Stick
13.) Pie on a Stick
14.) Chocolate covered nut roll on a stick
15.) Ruler on a stick (yes the thing that measures)
16.)Jeremy on a Stick
17.) Mocha on a Stick (I think it's like a fudgecicle)
18.)Spaghetti and Meatball on a stick
19.) Pickle on a stick
20.)Walleye on a stick
21.) catfish on a stick
22.) Macaroni and cheese on a stick
23.) Falafel on a stick
24.) Belgian Waffle on a stick
25.)Grilled Shrimp on a Stick
26.) Pineapple, Banana, Strawberry dipped in chocolate on a stick
27.)Ticket on a Stick (Lottery scratch off ticket)
28.) Olive on a stick
29.) Beer on a Stick
30.)Dinosaur on a stick
31.) Salmon on a stick
32.) Deep fried Twinkie on a Stick
33.) Candy Bar on a stick (snickers, milky way and reeses cup)
34.) Egg roll on a stick
35.) Churro on a Stick
36.) Mosquito on a stick

The Minnesota State Fair is a fun place to walk around and spend money on strange foods on a stick. The fairgrounds have a number of buildings showcasing 4H projects (those kids are amazing!), art, science and technology, dairy products and the different livestock. The dairy building has live butter carving and you can see all the butter busts in a rotating showcase.

They have all the usual fair foods - cheese curds, pronto pups (corn dogs), and mini donuts - as well as the unusual foods - deep fried candy bars on a stick, ostrich and alligator on a stick, corn on the cob, and pizza on a stick. It is a great place to eat delicious greasy, artery clogging food.

You can walk past old tractors, see a lumberjack show, sit on lawn mowers and in new cars, pick up free things (pens, bags, pamphlets, rulers), register to win things and look at the many tree carvings scattered throughout the fairgrounds. There are kiddie rides and a midway with larger carnival rides, a skyride and an adventure park featuring (more expensive) thrilling rides. Many smaller bandshells have free concerts all day and the main grandstand has a headline concert every night. All the local radio and tv stations broadcast live from the fair, too.

The State Fair is a fun place to spend a day and is family friendly. Weekends get pretty busy and plan on going earlier to have a better chance finding parking, or better yet, take the bus or shuttle. Be prepared for a lot of walking and overspending on food and drink. There is a lot to see and do and something for everyone.