FamiLee Life

Minnesota State Fair

I mentioned briefly the other day about the State Fair in Minnesota. It's a major deal. How major? Well, the university never opens prior to the State Fair. It always opens the day after the State Fair ends. Yep, that's pretty major. It turns out that the large attendance at the fairgrounds requires extra parking space which comes courtesy of the university. The university is composed of three distinct campuses. In Minneapolis, we have the East Bank and West Bank which are divided (not surprisingly) by the grand old Mississippi River. In St. Paul, we have the (appropriately named) St. Paul campus. The East Bank and St Paul campuses are actually linked via a private commuter bus/bike road that "conveniently" bisects the fairgrounds. So, it all seems to work in synchrony.

Now, here is the important thing -- if you plan to go to the State Fair, seriously, seriously consider The Auto-Ethnographic Guide Service which is led by my artist-friend, Peter Haakon Thompson. How good is this guide service? Well, good enough to be promoted by Minnesota Public Radio! Click here to listen to Peter's multi-podcast on how he conceived of the service, what is auto-ethnography (with a credit to me), and what to bring. Plus, you can follow along with him as he gives an audio-tour of the fairgrounds. It's pretty neat stuff.

And, if you must know, I plan to bike to the fairgrounds this year. I hear you get a discount on the admission if you bicycle over. Maybe I will see you all there tomorrow.

For previous posts on the State Fair - click here, here, and here.

Posted by richlee at August 23, 2007 10:49 AM