In a world where we are constantly inundated with the seriousness of food—organic, food safety, no-carb diets, gluten-free, dairy-free, macros, micros, and so on, we sometimes forget that food doesn’t always have to be so serious.
Take for instance, the annual Minnesota State Fair. For anyone unfamiliar with this spectacle, the MN State Fair, otherwise known as “The Great Minnesota Get-Together,” is the largest state fair in the U.S., and runs for twelve days at the end of August.
Outside of it’s staggering attendance numbers (about 34% of the state’s population shows up) and its livestock and agricultural showcases, the fair gets its popularity from something else; food. And not just your classic fair food, we’re talking outrageous, over-the-top food…and oh yeah, pretty much all of it’s on a stick. Deep fried candy bar on a stick, hotdish on a stick, salad on a stick, beer on a stick, big fat bacon on a stick—I could go on and on.
The fair also prides itself on it’s new and “inventive’ dishes that are introduced every year; chicken in the waffle, sweet corn ice cream, blue cheese and corn fritz (hey, it’s the Midwest, we love our dairy and corn).
And not all the food is for eating. Each year, a new Princess Kay of the Milky Way is selected as a way to help promoted Minnesota’s dairy industry. Instead of showcasing each princess candidate with a standard photo, each girl has her head carved into a 90-pound block of butter. Yep, you heard me right – a butter head.
But what’s better than how good all the food tastes, is the sense of community that it creates each year. Every summer prior the fair, all new food items are published and people go crazy over the list. It’s the topic of everyone’s conversations. And I mean everyone. We all talk about what we’re going to eat, what we’re going to try, what’s good, and what’s not. I know I had pre-planned exactly what I was going to eat even before the fair had started.
With the seriousness that can sometimes surround food, it’s refreshing to take a break from it every so often, and enjoy it, regardless of how ridiculous it is. Even if it means waiting in line for 45 minutes for a bucket of Sweet Martha’s Cookies.
Written by Alison Eiler
Marketing Coordinator
Alison@FullTiltMarketing.net
