The Great Minnesota Get-Together runs for twelve days from August 24th - Labor Day (Sept. 4th). It welcomes 2 million guests annually to a world-class showcase of agriculture, entertainment, food, art, science and industry.
There's always a ton of things you can do at the Minnesota State Fair like go to the free entertainment shows, do some shopping at some of the 200 vendors, check out some of the hundreds of how-to-demonstrations and exhibits for kids and adults, watch the livestock competitions, go to the amusement park and go on some rides, try the Minnesota craft brews and wines or some of the new foods that are available this year at the fair and if you are there in the evening you can stay and watch the fireworks show that happens every night!
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Things I try to do while at the state fair each year:
-- My personal favorite is to try some of the new foods they have available that year! 😍🍗🍔🌭🥪🌮🌯🥙🧆🍖🥗🍝🥞🍧🍨🍦🍰🍮🧁🍡
-- I also love going into the Butterfly House where you get to stand in a room with A LOT of butterflies in it and if you just stand in one spot for awhile a bunch of them will come land on you! 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋😍🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
-- Check out the art exhibits like that years Official Commemorative Art piece. The 2023 Minnesota State Fair’s Official Commemorative Art is a richly detailed mosaic of iconic State Fair imagery made entirely from seeds by Minneapolis crop artist Liz Schreiber. With me being a gardener I am particularly excited to go see this piece in person! 😊💚
-- I also like to try and keep an eye out for the different sculptures and art that the fair has on display throughout most of the fairgrounds. There are 42 total this year! 🤩🗿🖼️
-- And I also try and keep an eye out for the gardens they have also sprinkled around the fairgrounds. This year there are 19 of them! 😍💐🌹🌺🌷🌻🌼🌸🌾
-- If there's time I enjoy going on the Skyride - a gondola-style ride over the sea of fair guests that goes from East to West or West to East on the fairgrounds.
-- And of course people watching. What a glorious place to sit (or stand or walk) and look at all the different kinds of people that are walking around at the fair! 🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🤸🚶🚶🚶🚶🏃🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🕺🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶💃🚶🚶🚶🚶🕴️🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶
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My best friend Steph has been my state fair companion for multiple years now and this year is no different! We are going to the Minnesota State Fair on Sept 2nd and I am super excited!! 🥳
A fun fact that I'd like to mention is that Steph and I met the last month of 9th grade when my friend Tori introduced us and our first hang out that was just the two of us was at the Minnesota State Fair in 2000 and one of the things we did while we were there was get pictures of us taken in a photobooth. Well 18 years later we were at the state fair again and decided to get some more photobooth pictures taken of us and here is the side by side picture of them! 😊
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My Essentials For Going To The State Fair
I don't know about you but I am the kind of person who likes to be prepared when I go out and do things so I like to keep some essentials in my purse that I bring with me whenever I leave the house. I thought it might be useful for some of you if I were to make a list of things that I like to bring with when I go to the state fair incase you are also like me and like to be prepared.
So here are my essentials when I go to the Minnesota State Fair:
(From top left to bottom right)
1. Mini Handheld Portable Fan - I'll bring this if it's going to be super hot the day I go 🥵
2. Burt's Bees Lip Balm - I like that these also give my lips just a tiny tint of red 😊
3. Bath and Body Works Hand Sanitizer - I'm a sucker for fun smelling hand sanitizer! 😜
4. Systane Hydration Preservative-Free Lubricant Eye Drops - I love that these are single use vials. Not only do they take up less room in my purse but they're also nice because if whoever I'm with gets something in their eye I can give them one of these to use 🙂
5. Nail Clipper - I always have to have one of these in my purse because if I were to rip my nail and then have it catching on something and rip it even more, especially into the nail bed, that quickly makes for a miserable day! 😫
6. Nail File - Same with my nail file, I always have to have one in my purse because it is super annoying to me to have a nail chip and then start catching on things 😖
7. Gaviscon Extra Strength Antacid - This antacid is AMAZING! My friend told me about it many years ago and it's the only kind of antacid I've used since! I've only had the original flavor so that's the one I would recommend. It has a pleasant flavor and when you chew the tablets they start to get a little foamy but in a good way. It's like you know the medication is already activated and it's going to work very fast. I can't recommend this stuff enough, I love it!
Sunscreen:
So when it comes to sunscreen there is a few different products I like to use depending on my mood 😂 but really more so if I have a headache or not. I can be sensitive to smells so the kind that I will apply on any given day will depend on my smell sensitivity that day.
8. Banana Boat Sport Sunscreen Lotion - This is my go to body sunscreen lotion. Even though it does have a slight sunscreen smell to it it has never bothered me. I also really like how it rubs into the skin easily and doesn't leave a white tint on the skin.
9. Trader Joe's Facial Sunscreen - While Shawn and I were on our road trip to New Orleans back in May and we had stopped to eat dinner we realized that we forgot to pack sunscreen and so after we were done eating we went to the nearest store that would probably sell sunscreen and it happened to be a Trader Joe's. We asked an associate where the sunscreen was located and she walked us over to it and then proceeded to tell us about this kind and how a ton of people come into their store and rave about how awesome this sunscreen is and how it's a knock off of some really expensive sunscreen that goes for like $40 a bottle and this stuff was only $15 a bottle so Shawn and I were like heck yeah we'll give that a try and we both LOVED it!! The feeling of rubbing it into your skin is so luxurious, I know it sounds super cheasy but it's like rubbing velvet onto your face, it's amazing! 😍 It doesn't have a scent to it which is great and it also absorbs into the face really nice and doesn't leave it looking shiny which is awesome!
10. Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen - This is the sunscreen I use when I want to feel fancy and have a fun coconut smell on my skin. If I have a headache I won't use this one since it does have a lingering smell to it but when I do use it's fun and makes me happy. 😊 I also like how this one absorbs into my skin and doesn't leave a white tint to it. 11. Paula's Choice Ultra-Light Daily Hydrating Fluid - This sunscreen is great for sensitive or acne prone skin. It does have a little bit of a smell to it but it's not that gross sunscreen smell. This one also rubs into the face really nice and doesn't leave it shiny which I love!
12. Nalgene Water Bottle - If you've never tried using a Nalgene bottle I would HIGHLY recommend it. It's a water bottle that is completely leak proof, made of virtually indestructible BPA-free Tritan that's easy to clean and dishwasher safe. Shawn and I have dropped ours outside on rocks and concrete and a bunch of other hard surfaces and we have never had one break. The only reason we ever buy more of them is because we'll sometimes accidentally forget one somewhere. They come in 4 different sizes: 16 oz, 32 oz, 48 oz and even a 64 oz. Shawn and I mostly use the 32 oz ones but we do have a 16 oz one that is great for keeping in my bigger purse because it is smaller and weighs a lot less (half as much in fact! 😜). We also have a couple of 48oz bottles for when we are trying hard to achieve our water goal for the day and we don't want to fill it up as many times. It also comes in different bottle styles (narrow mouth, wide mouth, lock-top, etc.), a ton of different colors and they even make them for kids too! They are so great. We carry a nalgene around with us every day and it's the only kind of water bottle that Shawn and I use! 💙
13. My phone - Definitely don't want to forget this at home!
14. Pepto Bismol chewable tablets - I don't know about you but I have a bit of a sensitive digestion system so when I go to the fair and know that I'll be eating a bunch of new things I definitely bring some of these with. The fair is a lot less fun when you have a stomach ache. And if I'll be bringing a small purse to the fair I usually just bring these and keep the gavisgon at home since this also helps heartburn. I love that these are individually wrapped and can be used easily at any time whether you have a drink with you or not since they are chewable. And I'd definitely recommend the original flavor and not the cherry flavor.
15. Gas-X softgels - Again, I'll be eating a bunch of new foods at the fair so I like to keep these on hand too just in case. It's great to not be bloated while you're walking around at the fair all day. Gas-X also comes in a chewable tablet version that I also like to use and I actually prefer the cherry creme flavor of this one vs the peppermint creme one. The reason I'm bringing the softgels on September 2nd is because I know I'll be using a smaller purse and these take up less room.
16. Plackers Micro Mint Dental Floss Picks - Since there's going to be eating involved it's always nice to have some dental floss picks on hand incase you get something stuck in between your teeth like a piece of corn and you can't get it out with your fingernail or a toothpick! 🦷💫
17. My debit card AND a credit card - I like to have have 2 cards on me at all times in case I'm out having the time of my life at the state fair and all of a sudden something happens to my debit card and it won't work at the check out. And actually while I'm typing this out I just remembered that our USAA credit card gives us cash back so I should actually use that to buy all the fun new foods, etc. and then pay it all off on the next billing cycle! 🙂👍
18. My driver's license and my medical, dental and prescription cards - If I wanted to drink any alcoholic drinks at the fair then I better have that with me in case they ask to see my ID. Plus when I'm driving to and from the fair it's always a good idea to have it on me in case I get pulled over. And my medical, dental and prescription cards are just always good to have on hand in case some kind of crazy accident happens and I get injured.
19. Cash - Even though most vendors at the state fair probably accept debit or credit cards I think it's always a good idea to bring a decent amount of cash with in case one of them doesn't allow you to pay with a card.
20. Some ibuprofen, Benadryl, Claritin and some caffiene pills - I like to bring these everywhere in case someone gets a headache, forgets to take their allergy medication, ends up having a strong allergic reaction to something or is really tired and needs some caffiene. 21. Band-aids - I like to bring a couple of band-aids with wherever I go because you just never know when someone is going to get a papercut on their finger or some other kind of minor wound.
22. Listerine Pocketpaks Breath Strips - This is another product that I would highly recommend if you have never tried them before. I love that they come in a tiny package so they don't take up a lot of room in your purse or pocket and the freshness of your breath actually lasts a lot longer than with mints or gum. I put the strip on my tongue and then press it up onto the roof of my mouth to dissolve that way it doesn't end up getting on my teeth. It's not a big deal if it does get on your teeth, it's probably just going to feel weird if you do.
23. Sunglasses - I definitely like to have a pair of sunglasses with me whenever I go anywhere outside because that sun can get awfully bright out there! ☀️ Plus they help protect your eyes from UV rays, reduce the risk of cataracts and protect the tender skin around your eyes from sun exposure and therefore help prevent skin cancer. 😎👍
24. The keys to my house and my car - Definitely don't want to forget those!
Some other honorable mentions are:
Comfy shoes that have good cushioning and support - These are a great idea since I'll be walking around the fair all day.
Columbia Women's Silver Ridge Utility Short Sleeve Shirt - Since it is most likely going to be pretty hot when we go to the fair I'll be wearing one of these shirts over my tank top to provide my shoulders and upper arms with some extra sun protection. The material is super thin and very lightweight plus it is made out of polyester so it wicks moisture away from the skin and it has a vented back that makes it super breathable. If it ends up not being very hot when we go then I'll wear the long sleeve version of this shirt, since it would provide better sun protection covering my whole arm plus it has roll-up sleeves with a button strap that holds them in place so if it were to get a little hotter and I'd want to roll up the sleeves I could. I absolutely love how lightweight and breathable both versions of these shirts are and it seriously amazes me how when I wear them I'm not any hotter than when I'm not wearing them and I'm getting excellent sun protection! 😄💛
And lastly some shorts or a skirt with an elastic waistband - Since I'll be eating a bunch of new foods all day! 😜
I hope this blog gave you some inspiration of things to do while you are at the state fair this year and that it also reminded you of some things you wanted to bring but might have forgotten if you hadn't read this post!
And I hope you have a wonderful time at the state fair!
Let me know in the comments below what your state fair essentials are and/or what you look forward to doing while you are at the state fair! 😄🎢🍡🍗🎡🎠