With less than a month to go, we’re counting down the days until this year’s Minnesota State Fair.
And if the 2025 Fair is anything like last year, we’re not alone in anticipating our next Pronto Pup and Grandstand show: The 2024 Fair was the fifth-best-attended Great Minnesota Get-Together of all time, with total ticket sales topping 1.9 million.
Sure, we’ll admit there are things to appreciate about other State Fairs, like Iowa’s — but the truth remains that our Fair seems to have some secret sauce that keeps us coming back. (It’s ranch.) This year, along with more than 100 new foods and beverages, there are plenty of other updates and additions to the fairgrounds.
What’s changing
Put your two cents in: Well, two dollars, really. Fair admission tickets are going up by $2 a person this year to fund improvements to the fairgrounds. Admission prices did not change last year, but this year, regular admission for folks 13-64 years old is $20, and kids 5-12 and seniors 65+ get in for $18. Children under 4 get in free.
People queue up for the 7 a.m. opening of the main gate on Snelling Avenue on the first day of the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Pour one out: Two of the Fair’s biggest free stages have lost their longstanding beer-related naming sponsorships. Rather than hearing music at the Leinie Lodge Bandshell or Schell’s Stage at Schilling Amphitheater, you’ll visit “the Bandshell” and “the West End Market Stage at Schilling Amphitheater.”
Don’t get e-mart-ional: On a related note: The Merchandise Mart is dead, long live the Merchandise Mart! The building still exists and remains devoted to tchotchkes you definitely need, but now it’s called the “Merch Market.”
11 A.M.: Cows are shuttled in and out of the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum during the 4-H Dairy Cattle Show at the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Doesn’t look a day over 74: The Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum, built in 1951, is getting the first major renovation in its history. It’s a multi-year, $22 million project — and it won’t interfere with regular Fair operations much, but you can stop by and see the progress and plans for the coming year. Major highlights of the work so far include new wheelchair-accessible ramps in the north and south concourses and seating areas in the arena.
Accessibility upgrades: Besides the improved ramps and seating areas at the Coliseum, the Fair has improved or implemented a few other accessibility measures. The accessible changing restroom with hoist, from Momentum Refresh, now also includes a breastfeeding and sensory-friendly space. Audio descriptions are now available for select pieces in the Fine Arts Exhibition building, along with select crop art entries. And more entertainment options and demonstrations will be ASL-interpreted thanks to a roving team of interpreters on the fairgrounds from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Shows with pre-scheduled ASL interpretation are listed at mnstatefair.org/guides/accessibility/asl/, and you can contact the Fair to request interpretation at other events not listed.
Hide and go seek: Some popular Fair booths are changing locations for this year, including the Minnesota Lottery, Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos, Minnesota Vikings Football and Australian Battered Potatoes, so double-check the State Fair website before you go. Also, the trio of vendors that were once located on a small patio behind Little Farm Hands — Baba’s, Summer Lakes Beverage and Scenic 61 by New Scenic Cafe — are moving a half-block south to a new food zone called “Street Eats,” on the corner of Randall and Underwood.
From left: Cousins Flo Beyan and her cousin Milly Beyan play with their younger cousin Delvin Williams (7) a he sit on his grandmother Garmai Beyan’s lap as aunt Mowu Beyan looks on with a smile while the family rest their feet at the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights on Friday, Aug., 23, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
What’s new
The featured design for the 2025 Minnesota State Fair is mocked up on a variety of merchandise. The design, created by in-house lead designer Samuel Tapia, consists of classic Fair icons that resemble the letters of “Minnesota State Fair ‘25.” (Courtesy of the Minnesota State Fair)
Back on Tapia: Last year, the Fair made headlines by stopping its artist-partnership program for commemorative posters and, instead, handing things over to in-house lead designer Samuel Tapia. His fun featured design this year, which will be offered on all sorts of merch, consists of classic Fair icons that resemble the letters of “Minnesota State Fair ‘25.”
Craftier than ever: Display cases over in the Creative Activities building have been expanded by quite a bit — 70 feet worth of exhibit space for crafts and about 30 feet worth for baking and canning in a new cooler. Plus, the demo area has been expanded and, in particular, now more prominently features artist displays from the fine folks at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota
Get your thrill fill: Several new rides are debuting this year across the fairgrounds. At the Mighty Midway, you can ride the Overdrive, a Tilt-A-Whirl-style situation that features “dazzling lights and fast-action spinning sleds,” and the three-armed spinning Scorpion. At the Kidway, fairgoers younger than you or me can ride Hampton Space Age, a sort of rotating track-based carousel, and Jumbo (Flying Elephant), with a helpfully self-explanatory name. Finally, at “Adventure Park,” which is the group of aerial attractions tucked over by the Dairy Building, you’ll find The Thunderbird, billed as the tallest portable swing in North America at 180 feet high. It’s also billed as being family-friendly; the Fair notes the ride “provides unparalleled views as it ascends and rotates, pausing briefly at the top to take in the sights before gently descending.”
Blast off: This year’s rotating exhibition at the North End Event Center is “Journey to Space,” which focuses on the experience of traveling to and living/working on the International Space Station. That runs all 12 days of the Fair, but if you can, come between Aug. 21–24: Those days also feature an additional NASA exhibition that contains five full-scale spacesuit models, a moon rock from the Apollo 15 mission and more, guided by NASA deputy chief flight director (and Albert Lea High School grad) Michael Lammers.
Helen Walden-Fodge of Minneapolis bites into a cheese curd taco from Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos at the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. “It’s the perfect platonic idea of fair food,” commented Walden-Fodge on the delicacy. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
100+ ways to eat, drink and be merry: This year’s list of official new foods looks, as always, both delicious and delightfully stomachache-inducing. Highlights include a couple of takes on cheese curds (including as breakfast — now you’re speaking my language!), a burger sandwiched between two PB&J Uncrustables and plenty of desserts. But it’s the beverages list that’s a real doozy, with a whopping 70 new beers, slushies, seltzers, ciders and fun non-alcoholic options. We’ve got a lot of work to do, folks.
What’s gone
Your super-secret free parking spot: At least, if it’s on the Falcon Heights side of the fairgrounds. The city council voted earlier this year to turn a number of city streets into temporary paid parking zones during the State Fair, creating about 1,000 spots that’ll run you a flat $25 per day. Affected roads include Asbury, Arona, Simpson, Pascal, Holton, Albert, Ruggles and Crawford streets and California, Idaho and Iowa avenues.
The only constant is change: As exciting as it is to explore newcomers to the fairgrounds, it also means some vendors are saying goodbye. Some stands from previous years, including Jammy Sammies by BRIM, are no longer listed as vendors on the “Fair Finder” website.
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