Minnesota
Minnesota’s food festivals: the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul, twelve days ending on Labor Day, with its New Foods and food on-a-stick.
At a glance
- Home of the Minnesota State Fair, 26 August to 6 September 2027
- 278 food and drink vendors listed at the fair in the official Fair Finder
- The fair has run since 1859, after a territorial fair in 1855
- The Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, are the base for a visit
- 1food festival
Food festivals in Minnesota
Myotus, CC BY-SA
Cities and towns in Minnesota
Matt Jones, CC0Map of Minnesota
What to taste in Minnesota
Cheese curds
Fresh nuggets of cheese, served battered and fried, a classic of the State Fair stands.
Food on-a-stick
The State Fair’s signature format, with its own filter in the official Fair Finder.
Walleye
The freshwater fish of Minnesota’s lakes, often served fried or in a sandwich.
Wild rice
A grain harvested in the lakes of the Upper Midwest, found in soups and side dishes.
Minnesota’s biggest food event is a state fair that has run since 1859: the Minnesota State Fair, which calls itself “the Great Minnesota Get-Together”, twelve days that always end on Labor Day. The state lies in the Upper Midwest, on the Canadian border, and is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Minnesota’s Twin Cities and the fair
The fairgrounds sit midway between Minneapolis and St. Paul, the state capital, the two cities on the Mississippi known together as the Twin Cities.
Labor Day is the first Monday in September, a public holiday across the United States.
A state menu written into law
Several of the foods a visitor meets in Minnesota are official state symbols, each adopted in a given year, as listed by the Minnesota Secretary of State.
| Symbol | Food | Adopted |
|---|---|---|
| State fish | Walleye | 1965 |
| State grain | Wild rice | 1977 |
| State drink | Milk | 1984 |
| State mushroom | Morel | 1984 |
| State muffin | Blueberry muffin | 1988 |
| State fruit | Honeycrisp apple | 2006 |
Reading a bag of wild rice
State law (section 30.49 of the Minnesota Statutes) sets what a package of wild rice sold in Minnesota must say:
- “Paddy” or “cultivated”: required on any package that contains cultivated rice.
- “100 percent naturally grown, lake and river wild rice”: reserved for packages of lake and river rice alone: “machine harvested” must be added when machines did the picking, and “hand harvested” is allowed when hands did all of it.
- “Grown in Minnesota”: allowed for rice 100 percent grown in the state, and every bag must state its place of origin.
The Juicy Lucy of Minneapolis
Of all Minnesota dishes, “the one that gets the most acclaim is the Juicy Lucy”, says Explore Minnesota, the state tourism office: a cheeseburger with the cheese stuffed inside the patty.
- Who made it first: two bars on the same Minneapolis street claim to have invented it in the 1950s, and Matt’s Bar, which spells it “Jucy”, still argues the point with the 5-8 Club.
The melted cheese inside “can be downright dangerous if you’re not expecting it”, warns Explore Minnesota, and many menus print a warning.
Before you go
- When: the State Fair fills late August and Labor Day weekend. In 2027, 26 August to 6 September.
- Getting there: Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) serves the Twin Cities.
- Beds: book early for fair time, when close to two million visits are counted in twelve days.
- Alcohol: the minimum legal age to buy alcohol is 21.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Minnesota State Fair?
From 26 August to Labor Day, 6 September 2027: twelve days, as every year ending on Labor Day.
Where is the Minnesota State Fair?
At the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, 1265 Snelling Avenue North, St. Paul, midway between Minneapolis and St. Paul.
How many people go to the Minnesota State Fair?
1,923,325 visits over the twelve days in 2026, according to the fair.