Minnesota State Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the largest state fair in the United States in terms of average daily attendance. It is also the 2nd largest state fair in the United States in terms of total attendance, trailing only the average total attendance figures from the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs for twice as many days as the Minnesota State Fair. It is held at the state fairgrounds, adjoining the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. The site is in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, midway between the state's capital city of St. Paul and the largest city, Minneapolis, near the Como Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods of Saint Paul and midway between the North Pole and the Equator. Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and enjoy many different types of food—often on a stick. It runs for twelve days, running from late August into early September with the last day being Labor Day. In 2009, attendance was 1,790,497, equivalent to about 34% of the state's population. This was up almost 100,000 from the previous year. In 2010, however, total attendance dipped 14,000 people to 1,776,211 despite setting daily attendance records on three days.