By Grace Wright
In 1854 the Minnesota Agricultural Society was founded and their goal was to help promote Minnesota agriculture. The first state fair was held in Minneapolis, 1858. For a while they didn’t have a set place; they would rotate from Red Wing, St. Paul, Rochester and a few more towns. Between 1870-1880 they worked to have a permanent spot for the fair. They finally found a spot when Ramsey County donated a 210 acre plot of land. It has now grown into 322 acres of land.
During the early days of the fair it was mainly agricultural attractions and competitions. This followed the theme of which the state fair was started for. Now, while agriculture is still a big part of the fair, it has now changed, with more food and rides for people to enjoy.
In 1966 the Fairchild gopher became the new official mascot of the Minnesota State Fair. His name is from Henry S. Fairchild, the man who said the fair should be put on the Ramsey county plot. His nephew, named Fairborn, later joined him in 1983.
The fair has been held almost every year since it was started but there has been a few years it hasn’t been. 1861-1862 because of the Civil War and the Dakota War, 1893 because of a conflict with an exposition show, 1945-1946 because of the U.S. restrictions with travel during World War II and also due to the polio epidemic. The most recent one was in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some popular buildings are the 4-H buildings, which is where many youth come to show animals. The cattle barn is where you can see many different kinds of cows, there are versions of these for many more animals. The DNR is a log cabin-like building which has held the DNR during the state fair since 1934. The food building is many people’s favorite building because it has many different food stalls. The most well known one is the grandstand. The grandstand has many different levels with food and shopping on the second and third floors and showing rooms on the bottom floor. It is also where many concerts are seen in the two weeks.
The state fair sees 2 million people a year and employs over 2,000 staff members during the summer. The livestock is a big part of the Minnesota Fair. It brings more than 8,000 competitors, 20,000 animals and prizes can add up to 1.6 million in total.
I have been going to the state fair for many years now and I have also worked at a booth during the two weeks that the state fair has been open. Some of my favorite parts are the food. I always get Sweet Martha’s, which are very famous chocolate chip cookies, I also always get the turkey leg and lemonade. I would recommend going to the state fair if you ever get a chance there is something for everyone there. It is open for the 2025 season, August 21-September 1.
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