To Go, or Not to Go, to the Dakota County Fair

For the past two summers since moving to Apple Valley I have received the newsletters regarding attending the Dakota County Fair.  And in the past two summers I have yet to attend. And I grew up going to my local county fair and even the state fair almost every year. 

Now, living in Apple Valley, I just haven’t seen any piece of promotional material that will motivate me to drive down to Farmington and pay the $15 for my family to park and walk around the fair grounds, navigating the crowds with our baby stroller. 

I very much enjoy people-watching and fair food. I will still attend the state fair simply because of the scale, and a county fair in southern Minnesota. You might be asking yourself, why would you attend one county fair over another? Well, the fair in Steele County (where my wife grew up) is free to attend and park. This to me is a lot more welcoming considering I do ride the rides or plan on making any major purchases. By saving that up-front cost it perhaps motivates me to drop a few more dollars on food or the cheesy carnival games. Especially given the economy we are in, when everyone is more conscious about what they are spending their money on.

I do enjoy living in Dakota County. Perhaps in the next few years maybe I will check out the Dakota County Fair. Until then I will save my money from paying for admission and parking just to walk the fairgrounds. If I am missing anything extravagant at this fair, please let me know. I would love to hear what you think about the fair. Give me a reason to get motivated to attend—something that the promotion pieces have yet to do.