50 Fun Facts About Minnesota State Fair

What is the fair's famous slogan?

Known as "The Great Minnesota Get-Together," the fair is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance, drawing well over 100,000 visitors on a typical day.

The fairgrounds sit in which small city between Saint Paul and Minneapolis?

The fairgrounds lie in Falcon Heights, a small Ramsey County city; the site was chosen in 1884 as politically neutral ground between rival Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

The fair runs for twelve days each year and always ends on which holiday?

The fair always closes on Labor Day; since 1975 it has opened on the Thursday twelve days earlier and run straight through the holiday Monday.

The record annual attendance, set in 2019, was roughly how many people?

The 2019 fair drew a record 2.1 million visitors (2,126,551 over twelve days), topping the previous high set a year earlier.

The first state fair was held in 1859. What had happened the year before?

A Territorial Fair had already been held in 1854, five years earlier.

Before its 1885 permanent site, the fair had been held in which of these Greater Minnesota cities?

Rochester hosted the fair in the 1860s, as did Red Wing, Winona and Owatonna, before the 1885 move to a permanent site.

The permanent fairgrounds chosen in 1884 had previously been what?

The Ramsey County Poor Farm, about 210 acres of county land, was selected in 1884 and hosted its first fair in 1885.

Which vice president first said 'Speak softly and carry a big stick' on 2 September 1901?

Theodore Roosevelt, then vice president, delivered the "big stick" line at the fair on 2 September 1901; twelve days later McKinley died and Roosevelt became president.

The main entrance road from Snelling Avenue is named for Dan Patch. What was Dan Patch?

The horse never lost a race in open competition from 1900 to 1909 and set a mile record of 1:55 in 1905.

Why was the fair cancelled in 1945 and then again in 1946?

Fuel shortage, then polio: wartime fuel rationing scrapped the 1945 fair, and a polio epidemic cancelled the 1946 edition.

The fair's sixth cancellation, its first since 1946, came in which year?

The 2020 fair was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic; a drive-through food parade of fair vendors on the fairgrounds stood in for it.

What title goes to the winner of Minnesota's statewide dairy ambassador competition, crowned at the fair?

"Princess Kay of the Milky Way" is crowned the evening before the fair opens from a field of county dairy princess finalists and spends a year promoting Minnesota dairy farmers.

Each dairy finalist has her likeness carved from a 90-pound block of what?

Butter: each finalist sits in a rotating glass-walled cooler while a sculptor carves her likeness from a 90-pound block, a tradition that began in 1965.

Unlike many state fairs, Minnesota's has never featured which classic dairy attraction?

It sculpts the twelve dairy finalists' heads instead, one per day of the fair.

Sweet Martha's, the fair's biggest vendor, sells its chocolate chip cookies in what?

Buckets of warm chocolate chip cookies, heaped over the rim, made Sweet Martha's the fair's top-grossing food vendor, with annual sales above $4 million.

Sweet Martha's was first turned down as a fair vendor in 1979 because the fair already had what?

A frozen yogurt stand already had the contract, so the Olsons' 1979 yogurt application was refused; three weeks before opening they were offered a cookie booth instead.

The Pronto Pup, a fair staple since 1947, was invented in which state?

Oregon: George Boyington began batter-dipping hot dogs at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast after a rainstorm ruined his supply of buns.

What are fresh cheese curds nicknamed because of how they feel against the teeth?

Squeaky cheese is the nickname for fresh curds, whose springy protein network squeaks against the teeth; the same curds top poutine in Quebec.

Which classic Minnesota casserole was first put on a stick at the 2006 fair?

Hotdish on a stick, a deep-fried skewer of tater tots and meatballs, debuted at the 2006 fair; the following year brought spaghetti on a stick.

The 2008 fair introduced two bacon novelties: 'Big Fat Bacon' and what chocolate-covered treat?

Pig Lickers were chocolate-dipped bacon strips with sea salt from Famous Dave's, debuting in 2008 alongside the maple-glazed slab called Big Fat Bacon.

The fair's oldest existing ride, opened in 1915, is a 'tunnel of love' style boat ride called what?

Ye Old Mill, built in 1915 by the Keenan family, floats riders in flat-bottomed boats through a dark tunnel and is the fair's oldest operating ride.

On the Giant Slide, riders slide down the fibreglass hill sitting on what?

Burlap sacks are handed to riders at the top of the Giant Slide, a fixture since 1969, to speed them down the wavy fibreglass hill.

The Space Tower rotates as it lifts fairgoers roughly how high?

Over 300 feet: the Space Tower, built in 1965, is a 330-foot gyro tower whose rotating glass cabin offers views across the Twin Cities.

After a 2003 remodel, the Grandstand's seating capacity for concerts is about how many?

17,000 is the approximate concert capacity of the Grandstand after its 2003 remodel; until 2002 the venue also staged stock-car racing on a small oval track.

Which Walker Art Center event did the Grandstand host in 2013?

The Internet Cat Video Festival, begun by the Walker Art Center in 2012, moved to the Grandstand in 2013 with Grumpy Cat among the guests and a Golden Kitty as top prize.

For decades Machinery Hill held the world's largest annual display of what?

Farm equipment filled Machinery Hill for decades in what was billed as the world's largest display of it; the area was later redeveloped as The North End.

The fair's crop art competition requires artwork made from what?

Plant matter that grows in Minnesota, mainly seeds, is the only permitted medium; entries are mosaics of glued seeds, and celebrity portraits are a staple of the contest.

The fair's mascot Fairchild is what kind of animal?

A gopher suits the Gopher State: Fairchild, named in a 1966 contest, wears a straw boater and striped jacket like an old-time midway barker.

Fairchild was named in a 1966 contest in honour of Henry S. Fairchild, who had done what?

Advocated the Poor Farm as the permanent site — Henry S. Fairchild, a Saint Paul civic leader, pushed that choice in 1884, and the mascot took his name in 1966.

The fair has not accepted government funds since which year?

Since 1949 the fair has taken no government money; the Minnesota State Agricultural Society runs it and reinvests revenue in the grounds and the next year's fair.

The Hippodrome, replaced by the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum, was damaged in World War II while used as what?

A propeller plant for the war effort took over the Hippodrome, whose heavy machinery left the building unfit; it was torn down and the Coliseum opened for the 1951 fair.

In 2007 an escaped bull at the fair fatally injured itself charging into what?

A fire hydrant was what the runaway bull slammed into, injuring itself fatally; no fairgoers were seriously hurt in the 2007 incident.

The 4-H building's most popular contest involves dressing up which animals?

Llamas and alpacas are dressed up by their 4-H exhibitors for the fair's llama costume contest, a crowd-pleaser in which handlers often wear matching outfits.

The old fair carousel, with 68 hand-carved horses, was saved in 1988 and moved where?

Como Park became its home in 2000: the Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel was rescued from auction in 1988 and is named Cafesjian's Carousel after benefactor Gerard Cafesjian.

The children's carnival area between Dan Patch and Wright avenues is called what?

Kidway is the fair's carnival zone of junior-sized rides for small children; the Mighty Midway nearby holds the full-size roller coasters and thrill rides.

The fair's annual 5K 'Milk Run' winds through which neighbouring campus?

University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, whose campus adjoins the fairgrounds, hosts part of the Milk Run 5K course, which starts and finishes inside the fairgrounds during the fair.

After the pandemic cancellation, the fair launched which scaled-down spring event in 2021?

Kickoff to Summer at the Fair, held in late May 2021, offered fair foods, rides and music on the grounds after the year without a fair.

The J. V. Bailey House on the fairgrounds was for decades the year-round home of whom?

The greenhouse superintendent lived in the 1911 J. V. Bailey House for decades; the Minnesota State Fair Foundation later made the house its headquarters.

The West End Market, opened in 2014, replaced which pioneer-themed area of the fairgrounds?

Heritage Square, the fair's pioneer-themed corner, closed after the 2013 fair and was replaced by the West End Market, which opened in 2014 with vendors, a stage and a transit hub.

Which fair has the largest total attendance in the U.S., beating Minnesota because it runs twice as long?

Texas: the State Fair of Texas in Dallas runs 24 days and draws well over two million visitors, while Minnesota's twelve-day fair leads on average daily attendance.

Why was the 1893 Minnesota State Fair cancelled?

A clash with Chicago's Columbian Exposition led the fair to stand down in 1893, since the world's fair on Lake Michigan drew crowds and exhibitors from May to October.

From 210 acres in 1885, the fairgrounds have grown to roughly how many acres?

322 acres is the modern extent of the fairgrounds, which began on 210 acres of former county land when the permanent site opened in 1885.

Fairchild's nephew, who joined him on promotional materials in 1986, is called what?

Both wear the straw hat and striped jacket of an old midway barker. The choice of animal nodded to the University of Minnesota's mascot and the 'gopher state' nickname.

The name of Minnesota's dairy princess title came from a 10,000-entry contest in which year?

1954 was the year the dairy title was chosen from more than 10,000 entries in a public naming contest, and the first princess was crowned that same year.

In 2019, Sweet Martha's cookie booths took in roughly how much revenue over the 12-day fair?

The operation can bake 44,000 cookies every 12 minutes and up to three million a day. It all started in a 9-by-11-foot stand approved three weeks before the 1979 fair.

The Pronto Pup, the fair's battered hot dog on a stick, is named for what?

The speed of the cooking gave the Pronto Pup its name — "pronto" because each dog is batter-dipped and fried to order in moments; the Karnis family brought them to the fair in 1947.

In 1898 Minnesota's volunteer regiments mustered at Camp Ramsey on the fairgrounds for which war?

The Spanish–American War brought Minnesota's 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Volunteer Infantry regiments to Camp Ramsey on the fairgrounds in 1898, continuing the numbering of the state's Civil War regiments.

In 1914 Austin McFadden won approval for the fair's first roller coaster by throwing in what?

For $8,500 he got 30 tons of wood and steel with 68 hand-carved horses from the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. When its owners sent it to auction in 1988, Minnesotans rallied to keep it.

The fair's single-day attendance record of 270,426 was set in 2018 on which day?

Second Saturday of the 2018 fair, 1 September, drew 270,426 people for a single-day record; the final weekend is traditionally the busiest stretch.

Which Owatonna seed-portrait artist dominated the fair's crop art competition for decades?

Lillian Colton of Owatonna turned seeds into portraits of Prince, Princess Diana and other celebrities, winning so often that she eventually withdrew from competition and exhibited instead.