Watch CBS News

Minnesota State Fair Announces Increase In Ticket Prices

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Though the Minnesota State Fair announced ticket prices are going up in 2019, Esme Murphy has a way you can beat the price hike right now.

As temperatures continue to dip across the state, savor the images of the State Fair – the crowds, the heat, the food.

The north end of the fair used to be a showplace for the latest in farm machinery, thus the old name Machinery Hill. But right now the north end of the fairgrounds off of Larpenteur Avenue is under construction.

"This is a brand new building, it will be open for the 2019 State Fair," said Jerry Hammer, general manager of the Minnesota State Fair. "It will have a new 12,000-square-foot exhibit hall where we will have a new, different exhibit every year. There's a lot of really good traveling stuff out there, museum-quality types of things that we just haven't had a place for."

The $16 million worth of changes to the fair's north end was approved by the fair's board of managers who also approved more than $3 million for general improvements to the state fairgrounds.

The Minnesota State Fair operates as a quasi-state agency and is a nonprofit. All money taken in by the fair for admissions gets put back into the fair's operating budget.

But because of the improvements and overall increase in operations, admission tickets this year will increase from $14 to $15 for adults.

"Every two or three years we need to adjust ticket prices, that's just the deal. The cost of producing the fair goes up, you know, the security, the free park and ride system, entertainment – all the services we provide," Hammer said.

But there is a way to beat that admission increase. You can actually buy your admission ticket to the 2019 Minnesota State Fair right now and you'll save some money.

Instead of $15 per ticket, you can get them for $11. The tickets are being sold on the State Fair's website.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.