Your complete guide to Day 8 at the Minnesota State Fair

CBS News Minnesota

Thursday is Day 8 at the Minnesota State Fair!

It's Seniors Day, with a discounted admission price of $13 for visitors 65 and older. It's also UCare Stretch & Stroll Day at Dan Patch Park from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Check out the most outstanding State Fair exhibitors and concessionaires at the 2023 Best Awards at 10 a.m. at the International Bazaar; catch an amazing cattle show at 10 a.m. inside Warner Coliseum; help artist Jimmy Longoria create a mural at the Education Building; and watch some very talented horses strut their stuff at 12:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Warner Coliseum!

Click here to see the entire daily guide from the state fair for Thursday, Aug. 31.

Music At The Fair

Duran Duran will be performing at the Grandstand with special guests Bastille and Nile Rodgers & CHIC. Tickets are $77 and up. The show starts at 7 p.m.

Grandstand Schedule | Free Entertainment Schedule

 

Why are there so many pickle-flavored foods at the Minnesota State Fair?

What's one thing that donuts, tacos, cheese curds, lemonade, and fudge all have in common at the Minnesota State Fair? Pickles!

At least six pickle foods made the fair's 2023 new foods list, while many other vendors hopped on board, too. So what's the big dill?

Click here to read more.

Good Question: What's the dill with all pickle-flavored foods at the Minnesota State Fair?
By Kirsten Mitchell
 

WCCO stars duke it out in the State Fair's Midway bumper cars

Bumper cars won't get you anywhere fast, but they sure can be fun - unless your co-workers gang up on you on the Midway!  

WCCO stars duke it out in the State Fair’s Midway bumper cars
By WCCO Staff
 

Record number of security staffing the fair

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt — and last year, someone was hurt in a nighttime shooting near the entrance to the Midway.

Frank and Rhonda Goldman, of St. Louis Park, said they make it a point to thank police officers whenever and wherever they see them — and that's happening a lot during their visit to the fair.

Click here to read more.

There’s more security at the Minnesota State Fair than ever before
By Jonah Kaplan
 

Team WCCO's polite mini golf quickly goes sideways

Let's just say that things got a little competitive among our WCCO team members as they tried Can Can Wonderland's "Mini Golf on a Stick."

Can Can Wonderland presents Mini Golf "On a Stick"
By WCCO Staff
 

What footwear is best for the fair?

We know a day at the Fair requires quite a bit of walking, so what's the best pair to wear?

What is the best footwear for the State Fair?
By WCCO Staff
 

See all there is to sheer at the sheep barn

Derek James' sons, Tyler and Chase, decided they wanted to take their father on a full tour of the State Fair's sheep barn.

Seeing all there is to sheer at the sheep barn
By Derek James
 

"What in the World Are They Eating?": The final round

The WCCO morning team had their chance (scroll down to see the evidence), now it's time for WCCO's The 4 crew to submit to the blindfolded taste tests that are "What in the World Are They Eating?"

Spoiler alert: Some of the foods were spat out, not devoured.

Once again, time for "What in the World Are They Eating?"
By WCCO Staff
 

More State Fair wares include hot sauce, Christopher Straub characters

There's no shortage of things to buy at the Minnesota State Fair.

First off, grab a bottle of "K" Mama Sauce at the State Fair Grandstand. Here's an explanation from Kyung Chun.

The story behind a popular State Fair hot sauce

Also among State Fair's many art forms are these wood mosaics, created by Nathanael and Anna Bailey from Duluth.

Among State Fair's many art forms are these wood mosaics

Finally, "Project Runway" contestant Christopher Straub introduced everyone to his newest character creations!

Christopher Straub presents his furry little guys
By WCCO Staff
 

Introducing our newest NEXT Weather team member!

As we mentioned earlier, starting next month, Joseph Dames will be joining the weekday morning show permanently.

Wondering who will be stepping in to handle weekend mornings and other NEXT Weather coverage? Wonder no further. Adam Del Rosso is joining our NEXT Weather ranks as our new weekend morning meteorologist! Watch his introduction to both WCCO and to the Minnesota State Fair below!

Introducing our new weekend meteorologist, Adam Del Rosso
By WCCO Staff
 

Still waiting for a second record-breaker day

At the halfway point, only one day has broken the daily State Fair attendance record, and that was the first Friday. Since then, the 2023 fair has had plenty of robustly-attended days ... but nothing that's breaking any new records.

Wednesday's attendance was a solid 128,068, very respectably ahead of the 2021 and 2022 equivalents, but roughly 17,000 shy of breaking the Day 6 record.

Minnesota State Fair
By WCCO Staff
 

Fair food break!

Our noon show Thursday saw a double shot of fair foods for Shayla Reaves to sample. First up were the deep-fried olives, a relatively new-ish food that's since become a fair staple for many.

All about the State Fair's deep-fried olives

Next up, a brand-new food from Baba's, the unique Al Taco Baba, which features pitas on a stick and a bowl full of rich flavor! We gave this food a solid three-star rating in our rundown of the new fair foods!

Al Taco Babas make their State Fair debut
By WCCO Staff
 

Afro Deli, Union Hmong Kitchen among State Fair's 2023 "Best Award" winners

Minnesota State Fair

Every year, officials with the Minnesota State Fair single out the cream of the crop among fair vendors. On Thursday, the fair unveiled 2023's official winners of the "Best Awards."

Among the winners were two high-profile recent food vendors with an eye toward giving fairgoers a truly international culinary experience. Afro Deli and Union Hmong Kitchen were dubbed two of the best from this year's Great Minnesota Get-Together.

[Click here to read more.]

State Fair's 1st Hmong food vendor serves up family recipe with love, pride
By Eric Henderson
 

Time for "What Are You Eating?"

Every year we play a round of "What Are You Eating?" It's a blindfold taste-test guessing game that usually gives some of our WCCO anchors a ... memorable moment.

One thing we've got to say — A.J. Hilton has absolutely no poker face when it comes to food.

Time for a round of "What Are You Eating?"

After that game, it wasn't surprising that A.J. was ready to wash that pickle fudge down with some Minnesota wine.

Minnesota Wine Country shares their new fair offerings
By WCCO Staff
 

It's a floral fantasia at the Agriculture Horticulture Building

If you feel like exploring a floral fantasia, you'll want to head over to the Agriculture Horticulture Building at the State Fair. Karen Bachman Thull talks about the display Bachman's has put together that's all about fairytale endings.

Bachman's fair floral show this year is all about fairytales
By WCCO Staff
 

Joseph Dames is WCCO Mornings' new weekday meteorologist!

We kicked off our 9 a.m. show with a special announcement. Joseph Dames is officially the new weekday morning meteorologist at WCCO! Congratulations to Joseph and we know he's going to be a great addition to our morning team!

Joseph Dames is WCCO's new weekday morning meteorologist!

A few things you might not know about Joseph: he loves playing the guitar, he's a big fan of getting out into nature, and ... what's with that chicken?

Get to know Joseph Dames, WCCO's new weekday morning meteorologist

Finally, to seal the deal, each member of WCCO Mornings offered up a personalized gift to welcome Joseph to the new gig. Pauleen Le, in particular, offered up a way for Joseph to straddle the line when it comes to border battles this fall!

Some gifts to help Joseph ease into the morning schedule
By WCCO Staff
 

4-Hers show off llamas, alpacas at State Fair

Pauleen Le met some of the talented 4-H kids and their animals.

4-Hers show off llamas, alpacas at State Fair
Meet the fair's llamas and alpacas
By Pauleen Le
 

Blue Moon Dine-In-Theater's new State Fair offering getting rave reviews

The Blue Moon Dine-In-Theater has a lot of fair favorites, but it's their new food this year that's getting all the attention.

Blue Moon Dine-In-Theater's new State Fair offering getting rave reviews
By Heather Brown
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