Skip to content

Aug. 27 – Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2026

357 Days 6 Hours 4 Mins

2025 Great Minnesota Get-Together

The 2025 Minnesota State Fair brought people together from across the state of Minnesota to celebrate. This year’s cumulative total attendance total was 1,940,869, making it the fifth best-attended fair ever!

“As the 2025 Minnesota State Fair has come to a close, we pause to remember the tragedy at Annunciation school and the devastating loss of others in our community who were victims of violence. Even in the shadow of heartbreak, the fair showed its true purpose: bringing Minnesotans together. Over the 12 days, the weather created a beautiful backdrop for people to share traditions, discover new favorites, and celebrate the spirit of our state. We’re grateful to guests, vendors, exhibitors, volunteers, performers, safety and security professionals and staff members who helped make this year’s fair a place of joy, connection and belonging. Together, we proved once again why the Great Minnesota Get-Together is more than a fair — it’s a reflection of who we are and what we can be, together.”

Minnesota State Fair CEO Renee Alexander

2025 Fair Fun Facts

Competitions

The Minnesota State Fair’s agricultural and creative competitions drew more than 35,000 entries this year, with competitors vying for a share of ribbons, trophies and special awards and nearly $2 million in prize money. Competitions included events for livestock, horses, school projects, dog trials, baked and canned goods, fruit, vegetables, crafts, bee and honey products, fine arts, farm crops, flowers, butter, cheese and more.

The State Fair’s Fine Arts Exhibition featured the largest juried art show in Minnesota. The 2025 People’s Choice Award went to “Minnesota MMRI Healing Dress” by Anita Lovelace of Minneapolis, Minn.

Learn more about results in Ag-Hort Bee, Creative Activities and K-12 competitions.

The Purple Ribbon Auction on Saturday, Aug. 23, set eight new record prices and raised more than $1.3 million for the 115 4-H members who participated in the auction. In addition, the auction awarded $130,000 in scholarships to 42 4-H youth participants.

In open class livestock competitions, supreme champion titles were awarded to the best grand champions out of all beef cattle, dairy cattle, boer goats, dairy goats, breeding sheep and swine grand champions and were exhibited by:

  • Open Class Supreme Champion Dairy Female: Corey Feltmann, Feltmann Dairy LLC, Norwood, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Dairy Junior Female: Brandon Grewe, Valley Gem Farm, Cumberland, Wis.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Beef Female: Cora Stade, Stade Cattle Company, Prior Lake, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Beef Bull: Cale Jensen, Jensen Angus Farm, Plainfield, Iowa
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Beef Cow/Calf: Scott Swanek, Swanek Show Cattle, Dexter, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Boar: Mike Patterson, Country Girls Show Pigs, Kenyon, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Gilt: Leia Patterson, Country Girls Show Pigs, Kenyon, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Ram, Wool Breeds: Duane Bauck, Dew Drop Farms, New York Mills, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Ewe, Wool Breeds: Dylan Nohner, Pines End Natural Coloreds, Erwin, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Ram, Meat Breeds: Devon Wolkow, Wolkow Dorsets, De Smet, S.D.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Ewe, Meat Breeds: Gary Klug, Highland Hampshires, Campbellsport, Wis.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Dairy Goat Herd: Laura Kieser, Four Seasons Farm, Jordan, Minn.
  • Open Class Supreme Champion Boer Goat: Lynnzae Van Wyk, Double Time Farm, St. James, Minn.

FFA Supreme Champion honors were also awarded:

  • Breeding Beef: Avery Kohls, Hutchinson FFA
  • Dairy: Evelyn Scheffler, Kenyon-Wanamingo FFA
  • Breeding Sheep: Tatum Goetz, South West Metro FFA
  • Breeding Swine: Noah Schaefer, Zumbrota-Mazeppa FFA

Supreme and Signature winners in the Minnesota State Fair Horse Show were:

  • Supreme Champion Stallion Draft Horse: Mystery Hills Stable, Kiel, Wis.
  • Supreme Champion Mare Draft Horse: Stalheim Farms, Amery, Wis.
  • Supreme Champion Gelding Draft Horse: Strawberry Lane Percherons, Didsbury, Alberta, Canada
  • Draft Horse Supreme Six-Horse Hitch: Ames Percherons, Jordan, Minn.
  • Draft Horse Supreme Cart Classic Series: Zubrod’s Percherons LLC, Guthrie, Okla.
  • Youth Cart Classic Series: Jack Schreiber driving for Schreiber Percherons, Plainview, Minn.
  • Signature Tandem Bareback Champion Team: Victoria and Samara Musselman, Rogers, Minn.
  • Signature Mounted Costume: Annie Mickelson, Loretto, Minn.
  • Four-In-Line Barrels Champion Team: Pine Creek Saddle Club (Camella Whalen, Jack Whalen, Maverick Belanger, and Major Belanger)

The Douglas K. Baldwin Award for FFA livestock show participation and leadership went to Kaylee Steele of Lewiston-Altura FFA.

Malorie Thorson of Waverly, Minn., representing Wright County, was crowned the 72nd Princess Kay of the Milky Way and will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for nearly 1,800 Minnesota dairy farm families this year.

The award-winning CHS Miracle of Birth Center welcomed 142 newborn animals, including 10 calves, 106 piglets and 26 lambs.

Bus Ridership

Bus transportation to the fair continued to be strong in 2025. Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) set a new State Fair ridership record this year, providing more than 148,000 rides, a 17 percent increase over 2024. This year, MVTA moved up its start time to 7 a.m. (from 8 a.m.) from its transit stations in Eagan, Shakopee and Burnsville. SouthWest Transit, which expanded service in 2025 to include Labor Day, reports that ridership to the fair increased again this year, continuing its trend of year-over-year growth, with final numbers available in the coming weeks. Preliminary reports from Metro Transit and the State Fair’s Park & Ride service also point to strong ridership; data currently is being finalized.

Grandstand

Total attendance for the Grandstand Concert Series, sponsored by Sleep Number, was 95,342 (not including the free MSF Amateur Talent Contest Finals).

  • Aug. 21: Old Dominion with special guest Yam Haus (sold out)
  • Aug. 22: Meghan Trainor with special guest ellis
  • Aug. 23: Atmosphere & Friends: Minnesota with Atmosphere, Cypress Hill, Lupe Fiasco, The Pharcyde, and DJ Abilities – The Current’s Music On-A-Stick Show 2025
  • Aug. 24: Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls: Yes We Are Tour
  • Aug. 25: Happy Together Tour 2025 featuring The Turtles, Jay and the Americans, Little Anthony, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Vogues and The Cowsills
  • Aug. 26: Def Leppard with special guest Brother Cane
  • Aug. 27: Hank Williams Jr. with special guest Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
  • Aug. 28: Daryl Hall with special guest The Rascals
  • Aug. 29: The Avett Brothers with special guest The Milk Carton Kids
  • Aug. 30: Nelly with special guests Ja Rule, Mýa and Ying Yang Twins (sold out)
  • Sept. 1: The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays Music of Taylor Swift & More for Kids featuring Bri & The Anti-Heroes

Amateur Talent Contest

Nearly 5,000 fans cheered on the best amateur talent in the state at the MSF Amateur Talent Contest Finals sponsored by Chase held Aug. 31, at the Grandstand. Contestants were competing for nearly $20,000 in prize money. Winners were:

Open Division

  • First place: Ashley Wongbi of St. Paul, Minn., vocal performance, “Heart of Stone”
  • Second place: Pink Grapefruit of Minneapolis, Minn., cello/piano performance, “Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, 2nd Movement”
  • Third place: Laci Bloss of Woodbury, Minn., dance performance, “Remember Me”

Teen Division

  • First place: Matissa Conrad of Shoreview, Minn., dance performance, “Swan Song”
  • Second place: Tucker Kase of Apple Valley, Minn., piano performance, “Beethoven’s Cadenza”
  • Third place: Harold Fang of Maple Grove, Minn., piano performance, “Brahms Paganini Variations 1-4”

Preteen Division

  • First place: Gerald Fang of Maple Grove, Minn., piano performance, “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum”
  • Second place: Anna Arndt of Minneapolis, Minn., violin performance, “Scene de Ballet”
  • Third place: Tova Thompson of Plymouth, Minn., acrobatics performance, “Sports Car”

New This Year

New Additions and Highlights

  • Minnesota State Fair Featured Design available on merchandise at the State FairWear gift shops
  • The tallest portable swing in North America – The Thunderbird – in Adventure Park
  • Journey to Space exhibit all 12 days of the fair with the addition of NASA exhibit (Aug. 21-24) at the North End Event Center
  • First phase of the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum renovation
  • Two new Midway rides and two new Kidway rides
  • Bachman’s Floral Rotunda
  • Guest experience enhancements (expanded entry at Gate 2, new display cases and new cooler in Creative Activities Building, as well as expanded demonstration and display area for the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, and a new permanent Friend of the Fair Pavilion)
  • Accessibility and guest services additions (accessible ramps in the Coliseum, Momentum Refresh enhancements, more audio descriptions, and expanded ASL program)
  • New competition and themes
  • 85 years of the 4-H Building
  • Additional historical, concessions and exhibit updates and more

View the full list of what was new in 2025.

New Foods

The 2025 fair featured 33 Official New Foods sponsored by Mattress Firm:

Afro Bean Pops; Athena’s Whipped Feta; Birthday Cake Cookie Dough On-A-Stick; Bison Meatball Sub; Cannoli Gelato Nachos; Caprese Curds; Cherry Bigfoot Limeade Float; Chicken-Fried Bacon Fries; Cinna-sugar Crust Tidbits; Croffle Cloud; Deep-Fried Tofuego Bites; Dill Pickle Iced Tea; Fawaffle; Flauta Dippers; Freaky Fryday; Grandma Doreen’s Dessert Dog; Green Apple Sucker Ice Cream; Hot Honey Jalapeño Popper Donut; Hot Honey Pizza Ballzz; Hula Kalua Pork; Land of 10,000 Cakes Patisserie Sweets in Two Varieties: Two pastries from Patisserie 46: Apple Glaze and Banana S’more; Pimento Cheese Puffs; Pizza Cheese Curd Tacos; Pot of Gold Potato Dumplings; Shrimp & Pork Toast On-A-Stick; Smashadilla; Somali Street Fries; Sweet Squeakers; Tandoori Chicken Quesaratha; Timber Twists; Triple Chocolate Mini Donuts; and Uncrustaburger.

Eight new food vendors in 2025: Beans & Beignets; Chocolate Strawberry Cup; Greater Tater; Lumpia City; Magdalena’s Chimney Cakes; Midtown Global Market’s Irie Jamaican (Aug. 27 to Sept. 1) and Oasis Grill & Hoyo Sambusa (Aug. 21-26); and Urban Glow Mocktails.

Learn more about 2025’s Official New Foods.

Best Awards Winners

  • Australian Battered Potatoes
  • Giggles’ Campfire Grill
  • Just Beautiful by JB
  • Kiddie Bumper Boats
  • The Kracken
  • Lake Superior Drift Co.
  • Libby’s Ice Cream & Co.
  • Manny’s Tortas
  • Minnesota Native Landscapes
  • NordicSol
  • Roll-A-Ball Racer
  • That’s Invintage

The State Fair’s 2025 Best Awards recognized outstanding vendors, attractions and commercial exhibits.

The 2026 Minnesota State Fair is Aug. 27 through Labor Day, Sept. 7.