State Fair

The 2025 Minnesota State Fair runs Aug. 21 through Sept. 1. For all of the events at the MPR booth and Dan Patch Park, go to mpr.org/statefair.

Food critics take on the State Fair's new eats
Pioneer Press food critic Jess Fleming, Mecca Bos from City Pages and the Heavy Table's James Norton ate their way through the old and new offerings at the 2016 fair.
New at the fair: Recipe cards
This year, the fair is giving away a half dozen collectible recipe cards that feature Blue Ribbon-winning foods. Several of the featured chefs talk about their experience.
Ties that bind: It's Minnesota State Fair time again
The fair has been a special place for millions of Minnesotans since 1859. Heartfelt stories and wide smiles were easy to find Thursday morning as the gates swung open on Day One, 2016.
At Minnesota State Fair, a last stand for ash trees?
Fair officials are in the middle of one of the state's most intensive efforts to keep the tree-killing emerald ash borer at bay and the fairgrounds green. Here's a look inside the battle.
State Fair reveals hopes for another expansion
The new plan isn't as expansive as the recent West End upgrade, but fair officials say the idea is still ambitious and could include new attractions the fair hasn't been able to accommodate before.