Minnesota State Fair

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Minnesota State Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair

State fair

A state fair is a competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in their categories at the more-local county fairs....
of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
. It has been marketed for generations as "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It may be the largest state fair

State fair

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
in terms of average daily attendance, though the State Fair of Texas

State Fair of Texas

The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas, Texas, Texas . The fair season usually begins the last Friday in September and ends 24 days later....
runs twice as long and is the largest by annual attendance. It is held at the state fairgrounds, adjoining the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public university research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota, United States....
. The site is in the suburb of Falcon Heights, Minnesota

Falcon Heights, Minnesota

Falcon Heights is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,572 at the 2000 census. It became a village in 1949 and a city in 1973....
, adjacent to the state's capital city of Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the state capital and second most populated city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, Minnesota, the state's List of cities in Minnesota....
.

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History

Minnesota Territory

Minnesota Territory was an organized territory of the United States from March 3 1849 to May 11 1858, when Minnesota was admitted as the List of U.S....
first held a Territorial Fair in 1854, although the first Minnesota State Fair didn't occur until 1859, the year after statehood. Since then, the fair has run annually except for five different years. In 1861 and 1862, the fair was not held because of the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
and the Dakota War of 1862

Dakota War of 1862

The Dakota War of 1862 was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux or Dakota people which began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota and ended with a mass capital punishment of thirty-eight Dakota on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota....
. Scheduling issues between the fair and the World's Columbian Exposition

World's Columbian Exposition

The World's Columbian Exposition , a World's Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World....
in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois

Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
caused the 1893 show to be canceled. The fair again closed because of war in 1945, as fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy and to heat or to move an object. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion....
was in short supply. It was again closed in 1946 because of an outbreak of polio. In its early years during the 19th century, the fair was held in many different locations. Some were not far from the current site, but others were relatively far-flung, including years where it was held in Rochester

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is a city in the United States U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County, Minnesota. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, it is perhaps best known as the home of Mayo Clinic and is also home to one of IBM's largest facilities....
, Owatonna

Owatonna, Minnesota

Owatonna is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, Minnesota, United States. The population was 22,434 at the United States Census, 2000. It is the county seat of Steele County, Minnesota....
, and Winona

Winona, Minnesota

Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf ....
. For a time in the 1870s, the Twin Cities

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the most populous List of United States urban areas in the state of Minnesota, United States, and is composed of 186 cities and townships....
of Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County, Minnesota. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, Minnesota, the state's Capital ....
and St. Paul held competing fairs. Minneapolis, the younger city of the pair, eventually outdid its neighbor by staging the larger fair with the help of William S. King

William S. King

Colonel William Smith King was a United States Representative from Minnesota from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877. He engaged in a variety of other activities, including journalism and surveying....
. In 1884, a committee

Committee

A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"....
was put together by the Minnesota State Agricultural Society to select a permanent site. One site that was considered was an area around Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River located in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from Lake Minnetonka in the west and flows east for 22 miles through several suburbs west of Minneapolis and then through south Minneapolis, Minnesota....
, but the final site chosen was the Ramsey County

Ramsey County, Minnesota

Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849 As of 2000, the population was 511,035. Its county seat is St....
Poor Farm

Poorhouse

A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run facility for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality....
, the fair's current site. It was a politically-neutral site, being about halfway between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The fair first opened its doors there on September 7, 1885. The site was then 210 acre

Acre

The acre is a Units of measurement of area in a number of different systems, including the Imperial unit#Measures of area and United States customary units#Units of area systems....
s (0.8 km²), but now stands at 320 acres (1.3 km²).

One of the first annual events to occur is the creation of a sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is Three-dimensional space artwork created by shaping or combining hard and or plastic material, sound, and or text and or light, commonly Stone sculpture , metal, glass, or wood....
made of butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
. Each year, a new Princess Kay of the Milky Way

Princess Kay of the Milky Way

Princess Kay of the Milky Way is the title awarded to the winner of the state-wide Minnesota Dairy Princess Program, an annual pageant competition organized by the Midwest Dairy Association....
is selected to promote Minnesota's dairy

Dairy

A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from goat or cattle, but also from bovine, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption....
industry. Part of the job involves posing for several hours in a walk-in, glass-walled refrigerator as a 90 pound (41 kg) block of butter is carved into a head with her likeness. Butter makers started sculpting their products at the fair as far back as 1898, although the head-sculpting tradition didn't begin until 1964.

The main entrance to the fair from Snelling Avenue heads onto a road named Dan Patch

Dan Patch

Dan Patch . was a brown standardbred horse horse sired by Joe Patchen and was the outstanding Harness racing of his day. Foaled in 1896, Dan Patch broke world speed records at least 14 times in the early 1900s, finally setting the world's record for the fastest mile by a harness horse during a time trial in 1906, a record that stood unma...
Avenue for a pacer

Harness racing

Harness racing is a form of horse-racing in which the horses race in a specified gait. They usually pull two-wheeled carts called sulky, although races to saddle are still occasionally conducted, especially in Europe....
horse

Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
who won every race he ran in from 1905 to 1909 when he was retired.

One of the most significant dates in the fair's history was September 2, 1901 when then-Vice President

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt , also known as T.R., and to the public as Teddy, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
was visiting and first uttered the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick

Big stick diplomacy

Big Stick Ideology, or Big Stick Diplomacy, or Big Stick Policy, is a form of hegemony and was the slogan describing President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt?s Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine....
." Roosevelt became president

President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
just days later after William McKinley

William McKinley

William McKinley, Jr. was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected....
was assassinated.

Attractions

Livestock departments

A large portion of the Fairgrounds are occupied by livestock barns, where various farm animals are displayed. The animals and their owners take part in livestock shows to compete for awards. Most of the shows take place in the coliseum, a large indoor arena on the fairgrounds. Open class livestock competitions are held in horses, beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, sheep, dairy goats, llama

Llama

The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes mountains. In South America llamas are still used as beasts of burden, as well as for the production of fiber and meat....
s, poultry (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons) rabbits, and stock dog

Dog

The dog is a domesticated subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties....
s. On August 31 2007, a bull escaped from its handler charging several fairgoers before charging a fire hydrant reaching its demise. No people were seriously injured in the mishap.

Food

One of the primary attractions at the State Fair is the wide variety of foods to be had. Many foods at the fair are served "on a stick." Classic fair foods such as cotton candy are readily available. Many foods reflect Minnesota's agriculture; cheese curds, milk shakes, corn dogs, and FootLong Hot Dogs are popular favorites. Many foods at the fair are deep fried or come on a stick; from the classic corn dog to alligator-on-a-stick or deep-fried candy bars. New to the fair in 2006 was hotdish

Hotdish

Hotdish is any of a variety of baked casserole popular in the Midwestern United States, and especially in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Wisconsin....
on a stick, a variant of a classic staple of Minnesotan cuisine. In 2007 the new food was spaghetti on a stick. 2008's new food was chocolate covered bacon

Bacon

Bacon is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a pig, then Curing , Smoking , or both. Meat from other animals, such as beef, Lamb and mutton, chicken, goat, or turkey , may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon....
on a stick, called "Pig Lickers".

Machinery Hill

Machinery Hill is a large area of the fairgrounds. For several decades, it held the largest annual display of farm equipment

Farm equipment

Agricultural machinery is any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming. The best-known example of this kind is the tractor....
in the world, with many companies showing off tractor

Tractor

File:John Deere 3350 tractor cut.JPGA tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction....
s, combines

Combine harvester

The combine harvester, or simply combine, also known as a thresher is a machine that combines the tasks of harvesting, threshing, and cleaning cereal crops....
, and various attachments. However, modern displays generally focus on car

Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s, trucks, lawn mower

Lawn mower

A lawn mower or lawnmower is a machine that has one or more revolving blades to cut a lawn at an even length.Lawn mowers employing a blade that rotates about a vertical axis are known as rotary mowers, while those employing a blade assembly that rotates about a horizontal axis are known as cylinder or reel mowers....
s, and recreational machines like motorbikes. Farm implement dealers tend to direct their efforts to more targeted "farm shows," abandoning the State Fair to more urban or suburban types of exhibitors.

Shows

The State Fair is host to numerous shows, including concerts, comedy shows, product demonstrations, and the State Fair Talent Contest. The Grandstand is a large outdoor concert hall that also features 3 floors of interior exhibition space. It hosts the largest of the fairs concerts and until 2002 was also the site of stock car races run on a small oval track. In 2003 the facility completed the first phase of a $35 million remodeling project that removed large sections of bleachers and increased seating capacity to 17,000.

Art

The fair displays an annual art exhibition that is the result of a juried competition of works of fine art

Fine art

Fine art describes any art form developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than utility. This type of art is often expressed in the production of art objects using Visual arts and performing art forms, including painting, sculpture, dance, theatre, architecture, photography and printmaking....
. Media include watercolor, oil, and acrylic paintings, photographs, sculptures, pastels, ceramics, glass, and textiles. Entrants must be living residents of the state. In 2006, 345 works were displayed from 2117 submitted pieces of art.

One unusual display at the fair consists of the entrants in the crop art

Crop art

Crop art or seed art is a Visual arts created by fixing Plant, especially seeds, to a background.The Tournament of Roses Parade floats, Corn Palace of Mitchell, South Dakota, and portraits of Lillian Colton are examples....
competition. The artwork must be made of plant matter (seeds, stems, flowers, fruit, etc.) suitable for growing in Minnesota. For decades the display was dominated by Owatonna

Owatonna, Minnesota

Lillian Colton

Lillian Colton was a crop artist whose work, usually portraits of public figures made from agricultural products such as wild rice, hay and timothy seeds glued to cardboard, has been prominently displayed at the Minnesota State Fair for many years....
(1912–2007), who created crop art portraits professionally, having effectively captured scores of celebrities such as Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short story author, and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, France, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation"....
, Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand is an United states singer and film and theatre actress. She has also achieved note as a composer, political activist, film producer and film director....
, Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
, Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson is an United States musician. He performs under the Mononymous person name of Prince, but has also been known by various other names, among them an Love Symbol ...
, Princess Diana, and Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an United States country music singer-songwriter author, poet and actor. He reached his greatest fame during the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, but remains Cultural icon, especially in American popular culture....
in her crop art. After winning nine purple ribbons, she stopped competing, but continued displaying her work at the fair.

Competitions galore cover dozens of categories in needlecraft, garment-making, wood-working, models

Model (physical)

A physical model is a smaller or larger physical copy of an object. The object being modelled may be small or large .The geometry of the model and the object it represents are often similar in the sense that one is a rescaling of the other; in such cases the Scale is an important characteristic....
, painting, doll

Doll

A doll is an object that represents a baby or other human being, but includes likenesses of animals and imaginary creatures. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood, bone, cloth and paper, to porcelain, china, rubber and plastic....
-making, taxidermy

Taxidermy

Taxidermy is the art of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all species of animals including humans....
, stamp-collecting, scrapbooking

Scrapbooking

"Scrapbook" redirects here. For the Mac OS application see Scrapbook . For the Switchblade Symphony album, see Scrapbook . For the film, see Scrapbook ....
, baking, food preservation

Canning

File:Berthold Weiss Canned Foods.jpgFile:Canned food factory .jpgCanning is a method of food preservation in which the food is processed and sealed in an airtight container....
, etc.

Milk run

The annual 5 km run begins on the fairgrounds, winds its way through the Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public university research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota, United States....
(both in Falcon Heights) and the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood, and ends back at the fairgrounds.

4-H

4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The name represents four personal development a...
has a significant presence at the fair, both in their own building and in the livestock areas. Contests include herdsmanship, showmanship

Horse showmanship

Showmanship is an event found at many horse shows. The class is also sometimes called "Fitting and Showmanship", "Showmanship In-Hand", "Showmanship at Halter" or "Halter Showmanship" It involves a person on the ground leading a horse, wearing a halter or bridle, through a series of maneuvers called a pattern....
, judging teams, public presentations, non-livestock exhibits, and county club exhibits. Livestock displays include beef

Beef cattle

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production . The meat of cattle is known as beef. When raised in a feedlot a [cow, calf, hiefer, bull, steer] are known as feeder cattle, and are larger than other cattle....
and dairy cattle

Dairy cattle

Dairy cattle, generally of the species Bos taurus, are domesticated animals bred to produce large quantities of milk. For general information on milk production see dairy farming....
, dairy and market goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae....
s, poultry

Poultry

Poultry is the category of domesticated birds which some people keep for the purpose of collecting their egg , or kill for their meat and/or feathers....
(chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a Domestication fowl. Recent evidence suggests that domestication of the chicken was under way in Vietnam over 10,000 years ago....
s, duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s, geese

Goose

Goose is the English-language name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, turkeys

Turkey (bird)

A turkey is either of two Extant taxon of large birds in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America....
, and pigeons), rabbit

Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genus in the family taxonomy as rabbits, including the European rabbit , Cottontail rabbit , and the Amami rabbit ....
s, sheep

Domestic sheep

Domestic sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates....
, and swine

Pig

Pigs, also called hogs or swine, are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the Family Suidae. The name pig, hog, or swine most commonly refers to the Domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the Wild Boar....
.

Science

In recent years the science building has been housing the Eco Experience exhibit, which features activities and exhibits including the design and construction of an eco-friendly house, a rain garden

Rain garden

A rain garden is a planted depression that is designed to allow rainwater runoff the opportunity to be absorbed from Impervious surface urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas....
, exhibits addressing climate change

Climate change

Climate change is any long-term significant change in the expected patterns of average weather of a specific region over an appropriately significant period of time....
, energy conservation

Energy conservation

Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used. It may be achieved through efficient energy use, in which case energy use is decreased while achieving a similar outcome, or by reduced consumption of energy services....
, renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
, biodiesel

Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel consisting of long chain alkyl esters, made by transesterification of vegetable oil or animal fat , which can be used in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles....
fuel and vehicles, and organic farming

Organic farming

Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pest s, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and gen...
. The exhibit has received awards from the Western Fair Association, the International Associate of Fairs and Expositions, and the Minnesota Environmental Initiative.

Entertainment

Music

Every year there are many musical venues which have included performers such as REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon is an United States Rock music band that grew in popularity in the Midwestern United States United States during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s....
, Def Leppard

Def Leppard

Def Leppard are an England Rock music band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria , Def Leppard became one of the List of best-selling music artists rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldw...
, Styx

Styx (band)

Styx is an American Rock band. Their hit songs have included "Come Sail Away", "Mr. Roboto", "Babe ", "Lady ", "Blue Collar Man" and "The Best of Times ." Styx is the first band to have four consecutive albums certified multi-platinum by the RIAA....
, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an United States Southern rock band. The band became prominent in the Southern United States in 1973, and rose to worldwide recognition before several members, including lead vocalist and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, died in a plane crash in 1977....
. There are also many other free entertainment venues from local bands.

Rides

Permanent Rides

There are several rides that are permanent fixtures at the fair. The most popular of these is the Giant Slide, on which fairgoers ride down a large metal slide on burlap sacks. The Skyride is an aerial lift ride that carried fairgoers across the grounds in a gondola. The Space Needle is a gyro tower

Gyro Tower

A Gyro Tower or Panoramic Tower is an evolution of the Observation tower with a vertical moving platform. A Gyro Tower's observation deck is not simply raised to provide its passengers a spectacular view, it is also rotated around the supporting mast, either once in the raised position or while traveling up and down the center mast....
that rotates as it lifts people over 300 feet in the air, giving spectacular views of the entire Minnapolis/St. Paul area. The Haunted House

Haunted house

A haunted house is defined as a house that is believed to be a center for supernatural occurrences or paranormal phenomena. A haunted house may allegedly contain ghosts, poltergeists, or even malevolent entities such as demons....
, located on Judson Ave. is another favorite of fairgoers. Further down the block is a water raft ride. The log chute is another popular thrill ride. The fair's oldest ride, Ye Old Mill, is located near the food building. It is a tunnel of love style ride that caters to all ages.

Temporary Rides

The Midway

Midway (fair)

A midway at a fair is the location where amusement rides, entertainment and fast food booths are concentrated.The term originated from the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, Illinois in 1893....
is a carnival-like setting that contains most of the rides at the State Fair. The attractions include several funhouses, roller coasters and other thrill rides as well as numerous games of skill.

Adventure Park is where the extreme thrill rides are located. This includes the Ejection Seat and other rides like it. It is located across the street from the Midway, but is not a part of it. Adventure park also shares this block with a french fry stand, which is a crowd favorite.

Kidway is the carnival area on the fairgrounds geared toward children. Kidway is located between Dan Patch and Wright Avenues on the north end of the fairgrounds.

The J.V. Bailey House

The J.V. Bailey house is one of the oldest buildings on the fairgrounds. It was dedicated on Sunday August 27, 2006 and is run by the State Fair Foundation. The building, located on Cosgrove street, was formerly the Greenhouse Superintendent's Quarters, which explains why it is connected to the greenhouses. It is a historic building, dating back to 1911.

Management

The Minnesota state fair is considered a quasi-state agency, under the direction of the Minnesota State Agricultural Society. The management of the fair is handled by the Board of managers. The state fair has not accepted any governmental funds since 1949. Revenue from the fair is reinvested into maintenance and the next year's fair.

The Minnesota State Fair Foundation is an organization that works to improve and preserve historic state fair buildings. The foundation is a 501(c)3 organization, and also supports State Fair agricultural, scientific and educational programs. The foundation provided funding for the new Miracle of Birth center.

Attendance Records

Day	Attendance	Year
Thursday	109,643	1999
Friday	129,827	2004
Saturday	202,126	1998
Sunday	209,969	1994
Monday	143,998	1994
Tuesday	118,036	1993
Wednesday	128,966	2006
Thursday	155,183	1995
Friday	179,052	2003
Saturday	225,249	1995
Sunday	215,761	1999
Monday (Labor Day)	160,209	2006

Minnesota State Fair

History

Attractions

Livestock departments

Food

Machinery Hill

Shows

Art

Milk run

4-H

Science

Entertainment

Music

Rides

Permanent Rides

Temporary Rides

The J.V. Bailey House

Management

Attendance Records

Gallery

External links