All Seasons Arena at North Dakota State Fair in Minot

Nodak Speedway at North Dakota State Fairgrounds Center in Minot North Dakota

The North Dakota State Fair is an annual

state fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

held each July in

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

, USA. The fair has carnival rides, agricultural expositions, government and commercial exhibitions, and a variety of musical and performance entertainment. The fairgrounds are located along Burdick Expressway in east Minot. The facilities on the site are used for a variety of other events; the grandstand is regularly used for Nodak Speedway stock car races, and the All Seasons Arena is frequently used for conventions, sporting events and festivals, including

Norsk Høstfest Norsk Høstfest (Norwegian language: "''Norwegian Autumn Festival''") is an annual festival held each fall in Minot, North Dakota, US. It is North America's largest Scandinavian festival. History The event is held on the North Dakota State Fair gr ...

. The fair was first held in Minot in 1922 but was not officially sanctioned by the state government until 1966. The North Dakota State Fair is the largest event in the state, drawing over 300,000 people each year, up from around 250,000 in 2006. Fair attendance tends to increase year by year, with two noted exceptions in 2011 and 2020. The 2011 fair was cancelled because of the

2011 Souris River flood The 2011 Souris/Mouse River flood in Canada and the United States occurred in June and was greater than a hundred-year flooding event for the river. The US Army Corps of Engineers estimated the flood to have a recurrence interval of two to five ...

a month prior, which left much of the grounds underwater. This announcement came after originally planning to hold the fair without competitive events. The 2020 fair was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, although attendance returned to over normal levels by the following year.

References

External links

North Dakota State Fair websiteOur State Fair: The North Dakota Experience
Documentary taking an in-depth look at the history of the North Dakota State Fair produced by

Prairie Public Television Prairie Public Television is a state network of public television stations operated primarily by Prairie Public Broadcasting. It comprises all of the PBS member stations in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The state network is available via fla ...

State fairs North Dakota culture Buildings and structures in Minot, North Dakota July events Festivals in North Dakota Tourist attractions in Minot, North Dakota Festivals established in 1922 {{NorthDakota-stub