The Minnesota State Fair is finally here. It’s time to rejoice and get out your cash because let’s face it, the fair can be expensive. Options are endless at the Great Minnesota Get Together. But where do you begin?
We laid out an entire days’ worth of food and entertainment for two for $100. We got a lot of tried and true classics and even mixed it up with one of the new “must-try” foods. We broke it down dollar-by-dollar. Check it out and see if we got the most bang for our buck.
Transportation, FREE
This one is a no-brainer. There’s no point in paying for parking when there are more than 30 conveniently located FREE park and ride options close to the fairgrounds.
Two Tickets, $28
Tip: Admission tickets to the Minnesota State Fair can be purchased in advance at a discounted rate. That’s an easy way to save 3 bucks per ticket. It’s too late to take advantage now so remember this for next year.
Breakfast Juicy LuLu, $6
Our first stop was LuLu’s Public House for their breakfast juicy LuLu—a juicy sausage patty stuffed with loads of ooey gooey cheese. It was hearty and delicious and a great find for $6.
Mini Donuts, $5
Mini donuts are a state fair staple. You can get a nice size bag of these for only $5. Perfect for sharing.
Minnesota Lottery tickets, $10
Next stop was a trip to the Minnesota Lottery booth where we purchased $10 in scratch tickets and received a free prize – our pick of the litter was a water bottle! Plus, non-winning tickets purchased at the fair can be entered into a 2nd chance drawing to win $1,000 and more great prizes.
Tip: You can fill your water bottle up with for free at the Culligan Water Hydration Station located on the corner of Dan Patch Ave and Cosgrove St.
Cheese Curds, $6
Another State Fair must! Available in the Food Building at Mouth Trap Cheese Curds.
Beverages, $6
You could easily spend a lot of money on drinks at the fair. Our best bets for thirst-quenching beverages: A 32 oz. lemonade for $3 and an old-fashioned root beer for $3.
Skyglider, $9
Take in aerial views of the fairgrounds from the Skyglider. You can purchase a one-way ticket for $4.50 per person. Perk: A one-way ticket is a great way to get to opposite side of the Fairgrounds.
The Original Pronto-Pup, $8
For an extra $2, you can get almost twice the dog.
Deep fried apple pie at The Original Minneapple Pie $8
What could be better than apple pie? Deep fry it and plop it with a big scoop of cinnamon ice cream and you’ve got yourself the best dessert ever! Truly worth every penny!
UpNorth Puff Pasty at Sausage Sister & Me, $8
There are more than 40 new foods this year and if you were to try them all it would set you back more than $400. Yikes! We carefully selected one option, the new UpNorth Puff Pasty at Sausage Sister & Me, located in the Food Building. It was a perfect pick because there are cheese curds in it!
Free entertainment options
Window shopping at the West End Market
All-Star Stunt Dog shows are at 11 a.m. , 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. daily.
Walk through the barns to see cattle, horses, sheep, goats, alpacas and more.
Listen to live music. There are six stages that offer free performances throughout the day. Check out the schedule on the State Fair’s website.
Check out a Rhythm and Swing dance performance by the Education Building. Check out their schedule here.
Grand Total = $94
All in all, we had a blast and left feeling satisfied—without burning too big of a hole in our pocket.