Ticket prices to the Minnesota State Fair will not increase for 2026, organizers decided over the weekend.

The Minnesota State Agricultural Society, the organization that operates the Fair, voted to keep admission and Fairgrounds parking prices steady for this year at its 167th annual meeting in Bloomington. The last time ticket prices did not increase was 2024.

For 2026, regular gate admission for adults 13-64 will remain $20; children 5-12 and seniors 65 and older will be $18; children 4 and under will still be admitted free.

Pre-Fair discount admission tickets, available now through Aug. 26, are $17 for all ages.

Ticket information is available online at mnstatefair.org/tickets.

The board also approved about $67 million in expenditures, including the State Fair’s annual $44 million operating budget and $23.2 million in Fairgrounds maintenance and improvements. Most notable among these projects is the massive Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum renovation, which will bring new seats, redesigned entryways and aisles and updated amenities to the arena. Other planned improvements include repairing street and sidewalk pavement, installing new fans in the Food Building, expanding the South Bike Lot and buying portable drinking fountains.

“Minnesotans care deeply about their State Fair, and our approach is to make smart investments that honor tradition, set the standard for high-value, high-quality experiences, and ensure the fair’s continued relevance and significance for generations,” State Fair CEO Renee Alexander said in a statement.

The Fair is financially self-supporting and does not receive government funding.

As for events at the Fair, two Grandstand shows have been announced so far: ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic is set to return for his seventh Fair show on Aug. 28, and Rod Stewart is playing what could be his last large-scale show in the Metro on Sept. 1.

State Fair admission costs have been rising rapidly in recent years. Ticket prices are up $5 from the busiest-ever 2019 Fair, the last before the pandemic. Last year’s $2 increase to $20 adult tickets was the largest single-year jump since 2007, when admission was raised from $9 to $11 per adult. Over the past decade, ticket price increases have taken place in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. (The 2020 Fair was cancelled due to Covid-19.)

Annual Fair attendance remains high, though. More than 1.94 million tickets were sold for the 2025 Fair, making it the busiest Fair since the pandemic and the fifth-best attended of all time.

The 2026 Minnesota State Fair runs from Aug. 27 through Labor Day, Sept. 7.

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