How to Indulge Healthier at the Minnesota State Fair

The Great Minnesota Get-Together is officially underway. The Minnesota State Fair is running now through Labor Day, September 7, and if history is any guide, the crowds will be enormous.

The Fair drew nearly 1.94 million people in 2025, an average of roughly 162,000 a day, and its single busiest day on record topped 270,000.

We all know that health isn't likely top-of-mind when you're heading out to the Fair, and why should it be? This is a day to indulge in food and fun, plain and simple.

But for those who don't want to throw health completely out the window, there are healthier approaches you can take, and they've been well documented by dietitians and doctors alike. That matters even more if you're planning multiple visits before the gates close for another year.

A Healthier Approach To The Minnesota State Fair

Here's the encouraging part: a day at the Fair is already a workout. One fairgoer who tracked it with GPS clocked about seven and a half miles of walking in a single visit, so you're burning calories as you browse.

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Pair that with a few simple habits the experts swear by, and you can enjoy the indulgence without the full food coma.

• Fuel up before you go. Arriving hungry is how one Pronto Pup turns into five. A registered dietitian recommends eating a satisfying meal or snack at home first, so hunger doesn't drive every purchase once you're inside the gates.
• Share the splurges. Fair portions are famously oversized, so experts suggest splitting the most calorie-packed treats with whoever you came with. It's the same share-don't-solo strategy the pros keep coming back to.
• Skip the liquid calories. Sugary lemonades and sodas add up in a hurry. Bring a refillable bottle, hit the free water stations scattered around the grounds, and aim for the six to eight cups a day a dietitian recommends.
• Scout before you spend. Walk a loop and eye your options first, and one guide even breaks the grounds down by area, so you spend your appetite on what you actually want, not the first thing you smell.
• Reach for the stick and the grill. Grilled corn, a pickle on a stick, grilled peaches, a turkey drumstick or a pork chop all deliver big flavor with more staying power than the deep-fried stuff, and both a family doctor and a dietitian point to these leaner, fiber-rich picks.
• Let the Fair Food Facts guide do the math. The Fair publishes nutrition information for roughly 50 of its foods, so you can pick your one big indulgence with your eyes open.

It's extremely important to note that none of this means skipping the cheese curds. It just means you can say yes to them and still feel decent on the drive home.

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Whether you go once or make several trips before Labor Day, a little strategy goes a long way, and plenty of people from everywhere will be making the trip to Minnesota to indulge, and the same game plan travels well. Now go get that bucket of cookies. You'll likely walk them off by the end of the day.