Prepare to spend more at the Minnesota State Fair

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. – The Minnesota State Fair is getting more expensive.

When gates open Thursday morning, visitors will shell out more to get inside, and possibly more for their favorite fair food, too. 

Admission's going to be a dollar higher than it was last year. That's what most of the food increases will look like, too -- a dollar here, 50 cents there.

Not too much, but it adds up for us – and for the vendors too. Paul Lombard is the owner of Buni's Cinnamon Rolls.

"We had about a 40-percent increase in flour. Eggs, I use eggs because we make from scratch, and it's doubled," Lombard said.

Tack on the cost of gas to get to the fairgrounds, and vendors we spoke with say they can't absorb all those costs. Some of them have raised prices.

You'll pay a dollar more for Lombard's cinnamon rolls, 50-cents extra for Dan Wozniak's French fries. By the way, he says he goes through 30,000 pounds of ketchup at the fair. The price he pays for it? Double last year.

"You can go cheap, but we don't," Wozniak said. "People want Heinz, you get them Heinz."

Brenda Premont of Granny's Cheesecake and More held her chocolate-dipped cheesecake prices steady. She, like the others, is simply preparing to make less money.

"It's hard on people that come, too, you know. You can price yourself out, I think, so you still try to give them a good value for what you can do," Premont said.

After some 4-H exhibitors filled up their gas tanks to get to the fairgrounds from all around the state, they told us they're going to be a little more careful than previous years with their spending money.

If you're looking to save some money, you might want to pick up a Blue Ribbon coupon book for $5. You can grab those at the gift shops and poster carts. And be on the lookout for last-minute deals towards the end of the fair.