Off-season Use
The fairgrounds is heavily used during the off-season (non-fair time) for non-profit and commercial events. These include many horse shows in the Coliseum & Horse Barn (and a Deer Show), the Minnesota Horse Expo and the Minnesota Beef Expo, dog shows, antique & hot-rod car shows, motorcycle shows, model railroad shows, clothing & jewellery shows, gun & weapon collectors shows, comic book conventions, flea markets & swap meets, ice hockey games in the Coliseum, and more. Buildings on the grounds are frequently rented for commercial events such as appliance sales, computer & electronics sales, and boat & car sales. Earlier in the summer, some of the fairground's roads are used to host an annual series of bike races during the week, called the State Fair Affair Criterium Series.
In addition, many of the buildings are rented for winter storage of boats, camping trailers, and similar equipment.
Rental fees for such off-season use of the fairgrounds is a major source of revenue for the State Fair, often surpassing the profits from the Fair itself.
Read more about this topic: Minnesota State Fair