Minnesota State Fair fans line up overnight to be first through the gates
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Minnesota State Fair superfans gathered beneath a brilliantly colorful sunrise Thursday to be the first through the gates as the Great Minnesota Get-Together started its 12-day run.
Seven-year-old MaryJane Burgett of Minneapolis, accompanied by her parents, had the repeat honor of being the first fairgoer through the gates at 7 a.m. She was the first person last year, too.
This year the family arrived at the gates along Snelling Avenue around 3 p.m. Wednesday.
MaryJane said it was fun to camp out overnight with a tent and hammocks. Rose Hume, MaryJane’s mom, said they do it to make some fun memories for their daughter.
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“She saw it on the news and just wanted us to try, and last year we were No. 1 and we thought we’d give it another go this year — and we were again,” Hume said.
MaryJane had her day planned out — going on rides, and finding her favorite food: “Hamburgers and French fries ... from by the yellow slide.”
Right behind MaryJane in line were two opening-day veterans — Ginger Johnson of Apple Valley and Jason Hanson of Blaine, who’ve become friends after meeting in line five years ago. Hanson started showing up early in memory of his brother, who passed away in 2019.
This year, Johnson showed up at 11 p.m. Wednesday; Hanson joined her at 3 a.m.
Hanson said he knows it’s kind of ridiculous to spend the night outside the gates, but he said it’s a chance to catch up with friends and see the fair in a way many people don’t.
“It’s fun. You know, watching the State Fair wake up is a whole different experience that I think everybody needs to experience — when you show up and there’s only a couple hundred people, and then, like, three hours, four hours later, there’s thousands of people,” Hanson said.
Speaking with MPR News ahead of opening day, fair CEO Renee Alexander said seeing the lines form early on opening day “is kind of a celebratory moment. It’s a little emotional, because it’s like — we’ve worked all year long (and) it’s like, ‘they came, they actually came!’ ”
Trying new fair foods
First-day visitors on Thursday got the first taste of this year’s new fair foods.
Fairgoers joined long lines at LuLu’s Public House to try the new deep-fried ranch dressing. It comes with a hot honey sauce.
Ty Regner tried it — and recommends it.
“It’s a thick, crunchy outside and the ranch itself is a very thick, creamy texture. I think that’s everyone’s Midwestern dream, is to have ranch deep-fried,” Regner said.
It’s one of 33 official new foods at the fair this year. Six new vendors are also debuting this year.
Among other new food items this year, Union Hmong Kitchen — new to the fair in 2022 — debuted grilled purple sticky rice on a stick.
Alise Secor said she’s tried everything at the stand. She got the sticky rice on Thursday morning.
“So good. It’s really toasty, there’s a crunchiness on the outside of the rice, sticky on the inside. There’s fresh vegetables. The spicy sauce is so good,” Secor said. “It’s a really good mixture, it’s honestly one of my favorite things so far.”
Union Hmong Kitchen’s booth is in the fair’s International Bazaar, along with new vendors like El Burrito Mercado and Midtown Global Market’s Indigenous Food Lab.