How Sanitation Crews Clean Up The Fair Daily

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Between the barns, the bathrooms and all the sticks left behind from fried food, there's a lot to clean up at the Minnesota State Fair.

Once gates close at midnight, the workers have to get everything presentable again -- and it's no small job.

Nearly 2 million people will visit the "Great Minnesota Get-Together" every year, so the State Fair sanitation team hires 40 to 50 employees to maintain the grounds every night. And that doesn't include work in the barn.

The grounds get filthy every day, with cups, straws, pop bottles and napkins that all end up in the street.

Street sweepers try to get all that up, using leaf blowers to push garbage out of road culverts.

Crews also hose down as much as they can because, even though all this work is outside the barn, there are plenty of animals who use the street as a restroom going back and forth to their stables.

They also make sure all the vegetation planted around the grounds get water, especially on hot days like this year's fair has sweltered under.

It takes the crews hours to get everything back in order before the gates open at 6 a.m.

There are more than 900 toilets and 200 urinals at the fair. During the day, they have service people making sure restrooms are fully stocked and cleaned.

In all, 22,000 rolls of toilet paper will be used each year.