The "Great Minnesota Get Together"

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As a 17 year old I attended the Minnesota State Fair. I was in the youth development program called 4-H and had collected a State Fair Trip with my embroidery project. 4-H could be a post all of it's own, but to clarify - 4H seeks to develop skills in youths such as gardening, canning, sewing, economics, robotics, leadership, etc. While it is associated with farm life it is open for any youth to join and I was part of a club. There are monthly meetings, and youths are encouraged to take different projects in a variety of subjects including, but not limited to, those mentioned above. The idea is that by county fair time - you have a specimen ready to take to your local counties' fair. Based on how well you do, you may qualify to go to the state fair. And this was my story, 20 years ago, at age 17 in 1999, at the Minnesota state fair. I remember talking to my 4-H friends and going with my parents. Sure it was crowded and a lot of people. But at 17 I didn't mind so much. We spent the day and saw a great number of things - the machinery, giant sand sculptures, going in the midway on rides, the reptile exhibit, the commercial building and vendors - and of course the food - the glorious food. Fast forward 20 years. My friend and I decided we wanted to go to the State Fair. She hadn't been there in quite an amount of time, either. We walked in the front gate. And immediately I was shocked. Yeah yeah, I knew it would be crowded. I had no idea. I looked on before me and saw an ocean of shoulder to shoulder people. Sardines. Maybe worse. There was little walking in a straight line. To travel one had to travel at a diagonal. While we were there, my friend and I managed to go in the butterfly exhibit, see the world market vendors, I went on the haunted house and had someone else's child hanging on to my legs and pushing me all the way through it, and I went on an amazing river raft ride... we did manage to go on the skyway ride which I enjoyed about half way through once I got used to it. We also saw a bit of a performance by a "Queen" tribute band, they were amazing. We found some food, of course and actually the food stands I remember from 20 years ago must have been x100 or so it seemed. The food was overpriced and to be honest - none of it was that great. Seemed like most of the fair was now over taken by food. Live music every so often - and though they were local cover bands, they all sounded great. Fireworks show. It was a fun day, but for 10 hours of walking - we barely got anywhere or got to see anything because of the immensity of the crowd. My friend and I both agreed - while we had a good time we both like the smaller county fairs much better. Do you like fairs? Photo: Mine , State Fair Ocean of People 2019