Minnesota State Fair Pivots for 2020

Just because there's no actual State Fair doesn't mean you can't celebrate with a Pronto Pup or a quirky beer at home.

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Well, it's looking like if you can't go to the fair, the fair's gonna come to you.

Since the cancelling of the 2020 Minnesota State Fair, a grassroots effort has been bubbling all over the Twin Cities to deliver whatever safely distanced slice of nostalgia it can muster. It shall be known as the Great Minnesota Come On Get It Together 2020. From pop-ups, and special menus, to virtual competitions, and stunt beer releases, you may not be able to get everything you want, but if you try, you can get what you need.

We'll keep adding more things as we find them and updating this page at least until September 7, or until we run out of cheese curds, whichever comes first. 

Where to Buy State Fair Foods Anytime:

While the State Fair Food Parade officially sold out in two hours, there ARE scalpers selling tickets for +$200, which we do not condone. Keep checking the Fair Food Finder Map for any new concessionaires or food trucks popping up around town.

It's not the same as being handed a warm bucket overflowing with cookies at the Fair, but Sweet Martha's sells frozen dough that's available at various grocery stores around the Twin Cities, including Lunds & Byerlys, Hy-Vee, Cub, Kowalski’s, and Target stores.

Sara's Tipsy Pies has a retail location in Stillwater, and sells them in the freezer section at Lunds & Byerlys all over the metro, and select Hy-Vees.

Your favorite Jonny Pops flavor says a lot about who you are as a person. Are you a pineapple and coconut, more of a mango, or perhaps the cold press choco latte type? Luckily, the ice cream and frozen fruit bar brand (that solely uses all-natural ingredients and was born out of a St. Olaf dorm room) is available at Cub Foods, Target, and the Lunds & Byerlys freezer aisles to keep you cool for the rest of summer.

Nordic Waffles has a permanent stand at Potluck in Rosedale Center, should your sweet tooth have cravings for cereal and Reese's at once.

Do you know the difference between a Pronto Pup (which sells its flour mix and sticks online) and a corn dog, or have you even been to the Fair? Pronto Pups are made with pancake batter, while corn dogs use cornbread batter. Both include cornmeal, but the batter makes a corn dog noticeably sweeter than a PP. Thus: Not all corn dogs are Pronto Pups, but all Pronto Pups are corn dogs. See the official Pronto Pup slogan, "America's original corn dogs."

Birchwood Cafe's big State Fair hit, the Heirloom Tomato Sweet Corn BLT is available for curbside at the cafe!

Satisfying Substitutions:

Find Your Favorite Fair Beer or Beverage:

Tasty Pop-Ups and Parties:

+ While the towering blue barn won’t be a constant in our lives this summer, you might have seen the Little Blue Food Truck beeping its way through the state (like a Taste of the Fair at the Wedge Aug. 27). And ALL Blue Plate Restaurants will be channeling The Blue Barn from Aug 31 to Sept 7 serving Fair Food. Catch their Nashville Hot Chicken on a Stick, Grandma Deb’s Snicker Salad, Bacon Stuffed Tots, and more. Wash it all down with a blueberry basil lemonade. 

+ Potluck Minnesota FARE: Nothing beats the experience of spending a day walking food stand to food stand. Potluck is hosting Minnesota FARE, Aug. 27 to Sept. 7, a 12-day celebration with each of their vendors offering fair-inspired food like burger curds and lobster corndogs. Missing the entertainment? Eat near the Not-So-Grand Stand with life-sized cardboard cutouts of your fave singers as their tunes play in the background.

+ If you had to pick between cheese curds, mini-corn dogs, Big Fat Bacon and fried pickles, could you do it? My Burger’s State Fair Burger, running all August as their Burger of the Month, lets you have all of that and their signature sauce. Bonus points if you can finish the fries.

+ Midtown Global Market will host the Great Global Get-Together, Aug. 27 to Sept. 6: Catch some classic State Fair vendors like Manny’s Tortas and the Produce Exchange while sampling some new fair-themed or discounted food at Midtown Global Market’s Great Global Get-Together. On the weekend, stop by with the fam for activities like giveaways and caricature artists.

+ Cafe Alma's takeout menu is getting in on the fun. From Aug. 26 to Aug. 30, a State Fair Tribute menu will include spiced donut holes, old timey kettle corn, candied bacon on a stick (spoiler: it's pork belly), corn dogs, and roasted sweet corn with nothing over $8. 

+ It's State Fair Favorites from Travail for their next family meal. Order for pick up on Aug. 20 or 22, and get some luxury lobster and shrimp corndogs, fried green tomatoes, giant turkey leg, Aussie battered potatoes, pork chop on a stick, grilled peaches, and much for two people for $95. Note the deadline to order is 10pm the night before while quantities last. 

+ Hamloaf will have its day!! The Taste of Hamline, at Hamline Church will bring the dining hall's internationally famed hamloaf and meatballs, along with brick oven bread, back to us for one day. This fundraiser allows you to order now through Aug. 21, for pick up on Aug. 30, and yes you can order multiple pounds of hamloaf. 

+Some like it hot–their cookies, that is. Thr3 Jack is making it so you can pick up a bucket of oven-fresh mini chocolate chip cookies, from Aug. 27 to 30 and Sept. 3 to 6.

+Sweet Science Ice Cream is releasing some new fair-themed flavors for you: Animal Circus (frosted animal crackers), Caramel Caramel Corn, Peanut Butter Pretzel, and a Tipsy Cherry Pie–a tribute to Sara's Tipsy Pies cherry cream pie with their “almost” almond ice cream. All four flavors will be available at the Keg & Case retail shop in pints and single serving cups (the Tipsy Cherry Pie flavor will also be available at Sara’s shop in Stillwater). Coming out on Aug. 27.

+The team at Mason Jar Kitchen in Eagan has been working for almost two months on crafting a special State Fair menu: Get your jumbo turkey leg, grilled Mexican street corn, bacon on a stick, and more, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 6.

+Craft & Crew locations (including Pub 819 in Downtown Hopkins, Stanley's Bar Room in Northeast, The Block in St. Louis Park, and The Howe in South Minneapolis) are selling State Fair inspired foods and drinks, on special from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7 during lunch and dinner hours. Pork Belly on a Stick, Cajun Chicharrone Nachos, Fried Edamame Wontons, and a lot more that feels familiar.

+The State Fair would be nothing without its sweet corn. Luckily, the Corn Roast’s supplier, Untiedt’s Vegetable Farms, is hosting a pop-up in the parking lot of Barnes & Noble in Maple Grove on Aug. 30, from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. that is part of the farm's Summer Celebration. Corn is $3 each, and no need to BYOB(utter), but maybe a toothpick. You can also order a sackful of corn online and pick it up, if that's not enough.

++ SOLD OUT TOO LATE: Fair Food Trucks at Omni Brewing, and the France 44 parking lot party. 

Shop with No Entrance Fee:

  • The State Fair launched an online marketplace to help support local vendors recoup some of their losses this year. Can it help save merchants?
  • You may have missed out on Sweet Martha’s merchandise drop–the Minnesota equivalent of an Air Jordans release, that sold out in minutes. They've since added a pre-order option, and we're keeping our eyes peeled to see if more will come. 
  • For the Great Minnesota Get Together that wasn't meant to be, might we recommend one of these Adam Turman prints to mark the non-occasion? 
  • This is the year of the Minne-Sorta Fair. KSTP partnered with Sota Clothing to name it so with colorful tees and proceeds benefitting the Kid's In Need Foundation.

Kits and Boxes of Fair Fun:

  • It's Not Fair is a gift box service designed to bring you your favorite brands and merchants you've been waiting all year to visit. It's Not Fair partnered with twelve vendors, so there's still a chance to discover something new this year through the Fair.
  • The hand-crafted and Minnesota-made retailer Fox Run compiled 2020 State Fair Boxes filled with fun treats. Boxes come at a variety of price points, and contain things like postcards, jewelry, soaps, and in true 2020 fashion, a plaid mask.
  • All the love to salty, fried everything, but that's not all the Fair is about. In truth, nothing screams late summer like those grilled peaches which wowed us with their Fair debut in 2018. Produce Exchange will help you make your own with their kits that includes 10 pounds of peaches, goat cheese, greek yogurt, gluten free pie crumb, raw honey, and cooking instructions.
  • Missing the mini donuts, cheese curds, corn dogs, cookies, fries, and corn that only the Fair can provide? Don't fret, you can get it mailed to your house. State Fair To Go kits arrive in a cooled, insulated container ready to make at home. Don't procrastinate this one, because availability is limited.
  • More kits! The Fair has two specially designed kits now on sale: State Fair Party In-A-Box ($40, includes shipping) and the Crop Art to Go kit ($25, includes shipping). The former includes items for a party of six: commemorative tickets, plates, cups, paper hats, party favors, prizes, a vintage State Fair ribbon, pennant garland décor and a party game. The Crop Art to Go kit is a beginners set to get started and a perfect indoor activity: Get seven varieties of seeds, eight beginner illustrations to use as design patterns, a 5” x 7” canvas, glue, paintbrush, toothpicks, a pencil and directions. That, and more, here.
  • Northern Soda Company is selling mystery-flavored State Fair Sampler Packs that recreate the tastes of the Fair. You can figure out what the heck it is you're drinking with an included Northern Soda State Fair Map, or by visiting their Facebook page to decipher the clues online and watch for flavor reveals.

Virtual Fair:

  • The State Fair At-Home Edition, set to appear on the fair’s website and social media, will be sharing "daily fun fair facts, memories, demonstrations and entertainment, history tidbits, creative contests, behind-the-scenes peeks, photos, videos and activities." Smash that follow button!
  • The State Fair promises "a series of performances by prominent musical artists" as part of its Celebrate Culture & Community lineup. Every day will include updates and "new content to experience." Who's playing? For more information, visit the site from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7.
  • The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild is putting State Fair programming online, with daily videos from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7 in place of its popular “Brewed in Minnesota” exhibit. Get an all-access pass to check out over 25 MN craft breweries, brewpubs, and other local businesses that are participating. Bonus: Get shop discounts and download the guild's 2020 craft beer map.
  • This isn't the first time the State Fair has closed out of public health concerns. A polio epidemic shut the fair down in 1946. That and other tidbits will be shared at a virtual get together hosted by The Good Acre with State Fair archivist Keri Huber, who will share historical photos, facts, and agriculturally focused anecdotes from the 166-year history of "the best state fair in the country!" Tune in Aug. 31, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
  • The Minnesota State Fair Foundation, the fair’s nonprofit fundraising arm, will host a 12-day online auction, Aug. 27 through Sept. 7, featuring "fun State Fair items and experiences you can't get anywhere else." Sounds intriguing! Help support the Foundation's mission to preserve and improve State Fair programs, buildings, and the fairgrounds.
  • The State Fair's Fine Arts Exhibition is still happening in person with tickets from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7. But the Fair also says it will release video and a catalog of the art online.
  • In addition to its annual crop art competition, the Fair announced more virtual showcases, including a cookie decorating contest that features your favorite fair activity, a K-12 artwork and photography exhibit, and the opportunity to create a quilt on-a-stick (the theme: “Fishing in Minnesota: The One That Got Away.”)
  • If you miss chattering with your seed art buds this year, join the MN Crop Art Community group on Facebook to stay connected.

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