Livestock Vehicle Admission & Overnight Parking FAQs

The Overnight Parking Reservation Request System

Who is the overnight parking for?

Overnight parking is located on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in the Livestock Lots A, B and D (located to the west of the livestock and horse barns). It is only for livestock and horse exhibitors who wish to park their camping and RV units on the fairgrounds during the State Fair.

The request system is NOT for livestock and horse trailers used solely for transporting animals, tack and equipment. Those unoccupied trailers are parked free of charge in the Stella and South Red parking lots south of Como Ave., across from the fairgrounds. No camping is allowed in those lots.

What is included in an overnight parking site?

Each site is a gravel parking space with access to electrical power. Sites vary in size (maximum sized space is 14’ wide by 50’ long) and are assigned based on the camping unit and tow vehicle dimensions included in your request. Sites do not include water or sewer amenities.

There are portable toilets in the parking lots and two shower trailers on the east side of Lot A. A dump service is available from a contracted service provider for a fee. Manual water filling with hose is available by the Livestock Parking office trailer.

The reservation allows for the parking of one camping unit and one tow vehicle overnight for the dates of the requested encampment. See “Livestock Parking Rates and Dates” document for available encampments. Reservation does not cover the gate admission of any people into the fairgrounds.

When does the overnight parking reservation request system open?

Registration for overnight parking opens on the Tuesday after Memorial Day at 8 a.m., and the reservation request system will close the same day at midnight. No more requests will be accepted after that time. All requests made between 8 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. on this day will be put into a computer-generated lottery and will be filled in that order. Anyone who successfully completes a request in the first four hours will have an equal chance in securing a camping spot. Requests made from noon to midnight will be considered in the order they were received.

How do I access the reservation request form?

The overnight parking online form is now part of the overall Minnesota State Fair competition registration system.  You must login or create a user account before you can access the form.  If you have entered livestock, horses or paid for overnight parking in previous years, you have a user account tied to your email address.  You should login using that email address.

• If you don't know your password, you can reset it.
• You can confirm or create your user account at any time and do not need to wait until May 26.

Prior to May 26, we will post a short video and instruction document that will walk you through process and help you know what to expect when making your reservation request.

Take your time when filling out the online form and provide accurate information. Make sure you have all the information about your camping unit on hand (length, width, length with tow vehicle, license plate number).

Can I request overnight parking for dates that I am not showing livestock or horses?

No. Your request should only include the encampments for which you, or someone in your household, will be showing. At time of payment, if the animal entries are not under the same exhibitor profile as your overnight parking request, you will be required to provide the exhibitor’s name and it will be verified prior to issuing parking credentials.

Why is the request system only open for one day?

We typically receive more than 1,000 requests in the four-hour lottery. Only a handful of requests trickle in after that, and they rarely end up getting a spot. Rather than give people false hope that they can register in June or July and still get a space, we close the reservation system right away as we are full, and then some, when the system closes at midnight.

I didn’t get an overnight parking spot, what are my options? Will I be on the waitlist?

Any requests that were made during the lottery hours that we are unable to fulfill will continue to be considered in lottery number order. Requests made from noon to midnight will be considered in the order they were received. As the payment deadlines are reached, we will refer to waitlisted reservations to fill any unpaid spaces.

There are hotel/motel options in the area, and we suggest you can search online for reservations. You can also contact your 4-H representative to see if they have any options or suggestions for you.

How do I know that my request has been accepted and that a space has been reserved for my camper?

After June 11, if we are able to fulfill your request, you will receive an email confirmation that you have a space reserved for one or more encampments. You then must log in to the same user account as you did to register in order to pay for your space. Select the exhibitor profile under which you submitted a request for camping and choose “Overnight Parking (camping).”

The camping unit license plate number is now required as part of the reservation request. What if I am renting a camper?

If you plan to rent a camping unit, please put “rental” in the camping unit license plate field.  Keep in mind however that you need to put in accurate dimensions for the camper you plan to rent so that we can place you in an appropriately sized space.

I would like to cancel my overnight parking request. Who should I contact?

If you would like to cancel your reservation request, please email competition@mnstatefair.org.

Can we share, sublet, or resell our space if we paid for it but no longer need it?

The short answer is “No”. All reservations are non-transferrable. You may not share, sublet or resell your space. The person submitting the online reservation request will be considered the responsible party for the camping unit and site.

The camping unit must be the one submitted in the initial online reservation request. It will be verified by the license plate number.

This does not prohibit the responsible party from having additional guests in their camper. We understand that some extended families use a single camper and rotate in and out who stays there depending on what animals they show. However, that must be indicated at the time of payment by including those exhibitor names.

This also does not prohibit the responsible party from being a 4-H chaperone housing multiple youth during the 4-H encampment. However, at least one or more youth must have won a 4-H livestock state fair trip at their county fair and that information must be included at the time of payment.

All communication including mailing of parking credentials will go to the individual who originally requested the space. They are responsible for making sure the camping unit has the proper credentials before it arrives and matches the information in their request.

The individual who originally requested the space must be present at time of camper drop-off and present a photo ID to staff.

Paying for Overnight Parking (Camping) and Daytime Vehicle Parking Permits

How do I pay for my overnight parking (camping) space?

Login to your account. Select the exhibitor profile under which you submitted a request for camping and choose “Overnight Parking (camping).” You should see that your status is “Reserved.” Click the button that says “Pay Now” and enter your payment details.

Besides your credit card payment, you will also need to provide the following information in order to complete the transaction.

• For open class livestock, FFA livestock and horse. Entries must either be made under the same user account as the overnight parking reservation OR exhibitor(s) must be named at time of reservation request.
• For 4-H livestock. User must fill out additional information about the 4-H exhibitor, county fair, and specie at time of reservation payment. This information will be verified with 4-H prior to credentials being issued.

If we are unable to match any animal entries with your paid request, no parking credentials will be issued and you will not receive a refund.

What if I am not going to exhibit animals during one of my reserved encampments?

While we hope that you can exhibit all the animals you planned to at the fair, we know sometimes things happen.  It is important that you email us at competition@mnstatefair.org as soon as possible to let us know which reserved encampment you no longer need.  We will manually cancel it in the reservation system.

This serves two purposes: 1) we can more quickly offer that space to another exhibitor on the waiting list, 2) this will remove it from your online cart so that the system will no longer require that you pay for it.

Is there a deadline to pay for my overnight parking spot?

Payment in full is required by online registration closing date or within three days of the end of the county fair, whichever is later. Dates for 2026:

• Open class and FFA livestock – Wednesday, August 5
• Horse – Friday, August 7
• 4-H livestock – within three days of the end of your county fair

All payments are final. Payments will only be refunded for cancellations made for medical reasons (personal or animal) with verifiable documentation submitted by Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

If payment for your reservation is not made by the deadline listed above, your reservation will be automatically canceled. We will refer to waitlisted reservations to fill any unpaid spaces.

Can I pay for my overnight parking spot prior to submitting my animal entries?

Horse and open class or FFA livestock exhibitors may pay for their reservation prior to submitting livestock or horse entries. However, credentials will not be issued until there are appropriate entries associated with the reservation.

If we are unable to match any animal entries with your paid request, no parking credentials will be issued and you will not receive a refund.

4-H Livestock exhibitors should NOT pay for their reservation until after winning a 4-H livestock state fair trip at their county fair because they must fill out that information as part of the payment process.

How can I purchase a daytime vehicle parking permit for the lots by the cattle tie-outs?

You can purchase daytime vehicle parking permits while registering your animals. After adding classes, click “Add Items” to find daytime vehicle parking permits.

If you are a 4-H exhibitor, you must enter a 4-H class in order to view the daytime parking permits. You can select "4-H Livestock" when choosing a class.

Daytime vehicle parking permits will go on sale June 22 when the livestock and horse registration system opens.  Permits are sold by day on a first-come, first-serve basis and are limited to two per exhibitor.  Once we’ve reached capacity for the lots for each day of the fair, no additional permits will be sold.