Music

State Fair grandstand act pulls out of Saturday show

Low Cut Connie perform at The Current Day Party during SXSW 2019
Low Cut Connie perform at The Current Day Party during SXSW in March 2019. The band announced it will not play its scheduled Minnesota State Fair show this weekend.
Mary Mathis | MPR 2019

The Minnesota State Fair opens Thursday, and one of its grandstand acts pulled out of a show scheduled for Saturday, citing the fair’s lack of mask or vaccine mandates.

Philadelphia-based Low Cut Connie was on the bill with Lake Street Dive and Kiss the Tiger. The band was scheduled as part of the Minnesota Public Radio-sponsored Music on a Stick show — a traditional showcase for locally popular bands.

The group is one of a handful of fair events and attractions that have opted out as COVID-19 has been surging around the country this summer. Fair officials say several dozen vendors more than usual have opted not to return, and a number of local broadcast outlets have said they will not be live at the fair this year for the first time in memory.

So far, the fair’s other grandstand shows are on, and fair officials say they've been working with performers to step up COVID-19 prevention efforts.