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The Minnesota State Agricultural Society Board of Managers met Thursday morning to discuss plans for this year’s State Fair. The board is comprised of one representative from each of the agricultural society’s regional districts, and it acts as the State Fair’s governing body.

Reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox has been following the planning process and talked to MPR News host Tom Crann about what to expect this year. 

There are about 5 months until the State Fair. What’s happening at the fairgrounds right now?

Staff and maintenance crews are just starting to come back to the fairgrounds in the next couple weeks to start getting the space ready. Their big project this summer is 

renovating the Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum

. They’re replacing the roof, updating seating, doing some more renovations in there. Organizers say construction will pause during the fair so the building can be used as usual, and then they'll finish renovations after this year’s fair.

As far as food and entertainment, organizers say that’s mostly booked at this point. They’ve announced a few of the 

. So far, that includes country band Old Dominion, Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls, Def Leppard and the Steve Miller Band.

Fair prices at the gate are going up this year. What do we know about that?

; that’s up from $18 last year at the gate. You can get tickets online now for $17, if you want to keep it a little lower for yourself. Fair officials say it’s just gotten more expensive to run it. Security costs have doubled since 2019, and they’re also spending about $20 million on that Coliseum renovation, plus work on the 4-H building and some other maintenance projects. 

Then outside the gates, there’s also some talk of increased parking costs. Thousands of people usually find free street parking nearby, but the 

city of Falcon Heights is considering charging this year

. They’ve got a proposal on the table to charge $25 for a day. The city would partner with an e-meter company, so you'd use an app to pay the fee. 

Falcon Heights says that could bring in up to $200,000 in city revenue to help offset costs that they incur from crowds and wear and tear on the roads. City Council members said last night, they’re still thinking about it, and they’ll meet again later this month.

What about poultry and dairy farmers? How are they managing avian flu? Any word on what impact that might have on the fair?

Fair officials are monitoring the situation. They said they’re collaborating with health experts to get some input, but they said they’ll hold off on making any final decisions. State Fair CEO Renee Alexander said they will monitor the situation over the summer and see what’s happening at county fairs. 

keep birthing cattle and calves out of the Miracle of Birth Center

 as a precaution, and they made that call in early August. Milking cows also needed to test negative before coming to the fair.

As things ramp up, as we get closer to the fair, what else are you watching?

We’ll get more announcements of Grandstand shows and free entertainment. And then the one that everybody’s always really excited for is that new foods list, which we’ll probably get in early July. 

And if you just can’t wait until August, the fair is hosting its fifth annual 

 in May. That’s kind of a four-day mini run of the fair. They’ll have some performances, a limited selection of fair food. That’ll run May 22-25, and there are limited tickets available each day to keep the crowds down too. You can buy tickets online for $13, or $16 at the gate.

Estelle Timar-Wilcox

Author

The Minnesota State Agricultural Society Board of Managers met this week to discuss plans for this year’s State Fair.

MPR News reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox talks about what to expect at the fair

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