Fair-y Tales and Fried Delights Abound at 111th Annual Benton County Fair

(KNSI) — The 111th annual Benton County Fair begins Tuesday in Sauk Rapids and will keep the fried food and fun fired up all week.

Fair Treasurer Mary Ostby says evening attendees will notice something brightening the night sky this year. “We’ve got new ambiance down in the food court area with the lights that are being strung.” She adds there are “new acts for the Cottonwood Stage. Lots of stuff for families [and] lots of stuff for kids.”

She says a couple of new foods are available, but the central Minnesota tradition also offers everything people look forward to each year. Ostby loves about the fair is that “we try to bring in new stuff, but people are always looking for the staples. You know, they’ve got to have the cheese curds. They’ve got to have the corn dog. They’ve got to have an ice cream cone.”

The grandstand events include demo derbies, a monster truck show, a rodeo, a truck pull and a tractor pull.

The fair board launched a new, more interactive website this year. It also has a QR code, so people can now buy grandstand tickets through the website. Eventually, organizers want to upgrade almost everything digitally so that we’ll be able to sell parking passes, midway armbands and tickets.

For those looking to avoid battling the crowds for parking around the fair, shuttles are available from Rollie’s Rednecks & Longnecks or the Sauk Rapids VFW.

Around 120,000 people are expected to walk the grounds over the next six days. Hundreds of animals, vendors, exhibits, rides, and activities are open to the public.

Admission is always free. The fair runs through Sunday, August 5th. Click here for a schedule of each day’s events.

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