Fried pickle on a stick, corn on the cob, Sweet Martha’s Cookies. What do these three foods have in common? They’re all foods at the Minnesota State Fair, a place that you need to go to this year! I have been going to the fair since I was very young, and never fail to look forward to it. The Minnesota State Fair, created in 1859, will be taking place from Aug. 24 until Sept. 4. As one of the most popular attractions in Minnesota, the fair strives to provide a variety of activities, food, and entertainment for all ages. The streets of the fair are always filled with a positive energy and countless familiar faces. Ava Broll ‘25 explains her favorite part of the fair is that, “you always run into people that you know there and so like it’s a welcoming environment… I feel like everyone is excited to be there, eat the food, and go on rides.”
One of the most famous aspects of the fair is its food. Some of the food fair favorites include Sweet Martha’s Cookies, corn on the cob, cheese curds, Mini donuts, and of course everything you could imagine on a stick. My personal favorite food “on a stick” is the pickle. Last year’s State Fair included 58 foods on a stick, with the weirdest being mac and cheese on a stick, salad on a stick, and even cheesecake on a stick. Broll’s favorite state fair foods are the Sweet Martha’s Cookies as well as the fried pickles. The Babas stand, modern Middle Eastern cuisine, new as of last year, has become one of my favorite foods at the State Fair. The owners recently opened a restaurant on Lyndale Avenue providing an alternative method of dining aside from the fair.
Two of the many new attractions of the year are the Sweet and Selfie Experience, human-sized sweets in a building, as well as Can Can Wonderland Mini Golf, a nine-hole course with all of the most popular landmarks featured in structures around it. The Big Yellow Slide is a nostalgic, 50-foot-tall slide that I guarantee will bring a big smile to your face. The State Fair is also popular for their free music shows, and the concerts that occur each night at the Grandstand. Before you get lost in the school year with homework, take a day or evening to go outside, experience the wonders of the State Fair, and maybe even get tickets for the Jonas Brothers concert at the Grandstand on Aug. 26.
