Minnesota Public Radio, which started reporting from the Minnesota State Fair as far back as 1972, began a yearly tradition of live broadcasting from its booth at the corner of Judson and Nelson in 1991 (taking over the old WLOL-FM spot). The location has since become an important community spot for sharing ideas, intercultural representation, and topics unique to the Fair itself. MPR was the first media organization to have an entire day dedicated to them in the form of MPR Day, held the Friday before Labor Day in Dan Patch Park (formerly known as Carousel Park). The MPR booth has featured Gubernatorial debates, appearances by senators and important public figures, and live performances by a wide range of local musicians and writers. MPR hosts Gary Eichten, Cathy Wurzer, Kerri Miller, Bob Potter, Beth Friend, and numerous others, have filled the air over the past three decades with live Fair broadcasts that both informed and entertained. There was also the longtime broadcast of the Morning Show hosted by Jim Ed Poole and Dale Connelly, bringing their distinctive humor to the street intersection.
The Minnesota State Fair’s permanent 320-acre home along Snelling Avenue in St. Paul contains historical buildings which host a slew of exhibitors, plants, animals, arts, and plenty of jam. Big outdoor attractions include a multitude of food, Midway carnival rides, livestock (with smells), and daily shows and grandstand performances. It’s a busy, busy 12 days that MPR Archive has attempted to capture in this audio collection as varied as food on a stick. A report on Little Irvy, the freeze-dried whale…check! Andean folk band…indeed! Differences of the Pronto pup and the Poncho Dog…got it! Former U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz pitching his milk…yep! Here is your audio ticket to those stories…and so much more.
August 31, 2016 - When most people are leaving the State Fair, some others are just arriving. A team of sanitation workers clean through the night emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors, among other things. MPR’s Max Nestrak interviews Jeffrey Martinez, a floor cleaner about his fairgrounds night shift in the Food Building.
September 2, 2016 - One of the most popular attractions at the Minnesota State Fair is the CHS Miracle of Birth Center. It takes hundreds of people to organize the live exhibit where you can see farm animals give birth. MPR’s Max Nesterak interviews veterinarian Florian Ledermann…and witnesses both a live birth and lost children.
September 2, 2016 - MPR’s Tracy Mumford takes a look at the history of one of Minnesota State Fair’s staples…the corn dog, which has been the unofficial food-on-a-stick of the Minnesota State Fair since 1947. That's the year the Pronto Pup came on the scene. And, yes: A Pronto Pup is a corn dog, despite what you might have been told.
September 2, 2016 - MPR’s Doualy Xaykaothao reports on Hmong Day at the Minnesota State Fair. The schedule offers a kaleidoscope of events, from honoring military veterans and registering voters in the morning to Hmong dancers and rappers in the afternoon.
April 14, 2017 - MPR’s Tim Nelson reports that the original deep fried cheese curd stand at the Minnesota State Fair is going away. The founder, who started the craze in 1975, says he's too old to keep it going and the State Fair decided not to let his family take it over. Fair officials say they're looking for something new.
August 14, 2017 - In the lead up to the 2017 Minnesota State Fair, MPR’s Brian Bakst visits the fairgrounds before the gates even open, where judging for the fair's various contests is already in progress, with blue ribbons to be awarded for best crop art, cross-stitching, pie baking, pickling, and much more. Bakst gets a flavor of the competition in maple syrup and assorted jams.
August 23, 2017 - MPR News host Tom Weber talks with Art Blakey, Minnesota State Fair police chief, as he prepares to retire. For 37 years, Blakey has overseen it all as chief of police on the fairgrounds.
August 23, 2017 - MPR’s Tim Nelson reports on a newly arrived attraction to the Minnesota State Fair….Great Big Wheel. The 36 six-seat gondola wheel promises to be a true spectacle on the fair's north end, especially at night. It replaces what used to be the fair's Machinery Hill.
August 28, 2018 - MPR’s Tim Nelson takes a look at Monty's Traveling Reptile Show, a Nelson Street landmark on the Minnesota State Fair grounds and longtime favorite for many fairgoers. But it's different this year. As of last April, there's no more Monty. Nelson shares a story about the passing of the torch…or maybe the heat lamp…at the fair.
August 31, 2018 - At MPR Day at the Minnesota State Fair, MPR’s Mike Mulcahy hosts a gubernatorial debate at Dan Patch Park between U.S. Representative Tim Walz, the DFL candidate; and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, the GOP candidate. The two spar over Trump, schools, gun control measures, and how to slow the rising cost of health care. The stakes are high for both parties. Republicans have complete control of the Legislature and could control all of state government if they win the governor's office this fall, but they haven't managed to win a statewide race in more than a decade.