One month from Monday is the start of the 2026 Minnesota State Fair

Midway rides and vendors are getting set up while fairgrounds crews start arranging all those benches and keeps the flowers watered.

Paul Howenwald owns and operates Coaster's Beer Garden across the street from the Horse Barn.

"Once the fair ends, you start thinking about what you can do for next year, and the improvements, and then kind of take a little breather," Howenwald explains. "And then when January hits, you start all over again. So we come out and get everything reorganized and cleaned down detailed again. And then figure out what we want to do for improvements for the following summer."

On Monday night, auditions for the State Fair talent show begin, and they'll continue until Sunday.

Getting ready for thousands of people to visit his stand across the street from the Coliseum is Matt Reebar, who's got quite a family legacy at the historic fairgrounds.

"Yeah, I grew up in the business," Reebar says. "My father, and my grandfather, great grandfather, they all worked out at the fair their whole lives as well. My dad has the roasted sweet corn at the fair, and then my wife and I back in 2012 started our own business selling poutine."

Less than a month away is the crowning of Princess Kay of the Milky Way, which happens at the Luther Auto Bandshell next to the Space Tower the night before the fair begins. All competitors for the coveted crown will have their likeness carved in a block of butter, as is tradition, at the Dairy Building.

The State Fair dates back to 1859 and relocated to its current home in Falcon Heights in 1885.

As has been the case since 1975, the Great Minnesota Get-Together runs for 12 days, ending on Labor Day, September 7. The way the dates fall in 2026, this is the latest the Minnesota State Fair can possibly end.