A friend of mine and I attended the 2021 Great Minnesota Get Together last weekend and it was anything but great.

First off, we arrived at around 1 p.m. to find several parking lots closed (I guess because they were full?). I told my friend, let’s try and find parking along the street to the east of Snelling and were we in for a big surprise!

FORTY BUCKS!

A house right across the street from the fair was charging $40 to park right on their lawn near the sidewalk. I remember years ago when I thought it was outrageous that homeowners were selling parking spots on their property for $15 or so...now its FORTY?

Woah.

So, we scooted past the first few blocks until we were probably a half a mile away from the fairgrounds and we came upon a homeowner selling parking for $25. Ugh, still too expensive but we bit the bullet and forked over the cash. After jimmying the Jeep into a narrow space, we hiked up our shorts and started the long trek to the front gate.

The weather apps forecasted a cloudy, maybe rainy day but it didn’t deter us from trying to join in the fun in St. Paul.

And it was fun! For the most part anyways. We did the usual things like visit the DNR fish pond, hit the International Square, the grandstand, etc. What was sorta refreshing was, despite it being the weekend, we weren’t shoulder-to-shoulder with people, trying to make our ways through the massive crowds. We actually had room to roam!

And, despite the pleas and concerns from the officials  at the state fair and from health professionals, I observed probably around 85-90 percent of the people enjoying the indoor and outdoor activities without a mask around one’s face.

When I spoke to numerous vendors who had booths both inside and out, they told me how disappointed they were in the attendance numbers and blamed it on the weather forecasters who predicted all day rains and the media for putting such a fright in people about the possibility of contracting or spreading the COVID-19 variant virus.

“Usually we have people all along the front of the table, three lines deep wanting to look at our products,” said one vendor in the grandstand who sold 3-D, lighted stadiums. “The last three days or so, I’ve been doing a lot of standing around.”

Typically, we’d have to stand in long lines also to get a corn dog or a footlong, but not this year. Some people would say they like the “looseness” of the fair this year. I’m not so sure. I’m so used to the fair being packed every day, it almost feels like its lost its luster.

The grounds also looked “loose” as fewer booths were along the streets and roadways.  You know what was always full? The beer gardens down by the Midway. Of course, with the warm temperatures and excellent music being played, it was hard not to sit one’s tush down on a bench and sit back with a cold one while jamming to the tunes and people watching.

Bob Hurt of Becker’s own Firebuggz has a booth in the Machinery Hill area by Giggles and he too, said something was off this year and points to the media propaganda that is steering people away. Many vendors, including Hurt’s, planned to close their doors before sunset since the crowds just aren’t there.

I was glad the state fair returned for 2021. I was glad they didn’t put too many restrictions in place for those who live freely. However, if they don’t stop the weather Nazis and the media machine from dictating people’s lives, it just may have to be called the Good Minnesota Get-Together.