Good Questions: Minnesota State Fair Edition
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Every Friday, we tackle a bunch of viewers' burning questions. This week, Heather Brown answers questions about the Minnesota State Fair's vendors, butter sculptures and discounted passes.
Jennifer from Eagan asks: Who are the top selling vendors at the Fair?
According to the Minnesota State Fair, Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar is tops in revenue – by far. In 2014, her booth made $2.9 million. Coming in second are the two locations for the Midwest Dairy Association – the Dairy Building's Dairy Goodness Bar and the All You Can Drink Milk Booth – at $1.03 million. Mouth Trap Cheese Curds ($897,000), Fresh French Fries ($783,000) and Corn Roast ($686,000) round out the Top 5.
Rose from Maple Grove wants to know: Can you get a butter sculpture of your own head?
"Not at the fair," says Sherry Newell, a senior communications manager with the Midwest Dairy Association. "It's a privilege we've reserved for the dairy farm girls in Minnesota."
But, exceptions have been made over the years, including a special butter sculpture of former First Lady Mary Pawlenty and David Letterman.
Artist Linda Christensen has been sculpting butter heads at the State Fair for 44 years. Newell says Christensen does work on commission outside of the fair, but you might want to ask yourself: Do you want to sit for the sculpture for six to eight hours in a 40-degree room? And, where would you put it when it's done?
"What we know is that there are heads in deep freezers all over Minnesota from the nearly 500 sculptures Linda has done just for us," Newell says.
Kristin and Mark from St. Paul want to know: Why doesn't the fair sell a discounted 12-day pass?
A spokesperson for the Minnesota State Fair says it's been considered, especially now that they do more mobile ticketing. But, at this point, they don't have the technology to make sure the person who buys the pass is the one is the one who would be using it.