Guest Services & Safety
Looked after from the gate on
Here for the Free Fair, a concert, a craft show or a hockey tournament — the same crew is working the grounds either way. This page covers where to find help, what you can bring, and what happens when the sky turns green.
Where to find help
First aid station
Staffed by licensed EMTs during every public event. Scrapes, blisters, heat exhaustion, a lost inhaler, or a quiet air-conditioned place to sit down for ten minutes.
Guest services & lost and found
Event information, directions, wheelchair sign-out and lost property. Found items are logged and held 60 days, then donated. Call the office if you get home and realize something is missing.
Child ID wristbands
Free wristbands at any gate — write your child's first name and your cell number on it before you walk in. If you get separated, bring yourself to guest services and staff will start looking immediately.
ATMs
Three machines across the grounds. Most vendors take cards now, but the midway games and a few of the older food stands still run on cash, so it is worth having some.
Mobility & stroller rental
Manual wheelchairs and strollers $10 a day, wagons $15, electric scooters $35. First come, first served with no reservations, so arrive early on a fair Saturday. A photo ID is held as the deposit.
Nursing & family restroom
A private, air-conditioned room with a changing table, a comfortable chair, a sink and an outlet. Open to anyone who needs it — nursing parents, families with a child who needs a break, adults with a care attendant.
Free public Wi-Fi
Join the GrahamPark Guest network; no password. Coverage is strongest near the Four Seasons Building, the Exhibition Building and the Grandstand, and thins out toward the campground and the back acreage.
Water refill stations
Chilled, filtered bottle-fill stations at three points on the loop. Bring a reusable bottle — on a 90-degree fair afternoon this is the single best thing you can do for your day.
Please leave at home
- Firearms and weapons, except as expressly permitted by Minnesota law
- Cannabis and illegal drugs — no on-site use, regardless of card or age
- Alcohol brought from outside the grounds
- Glass containers and hard-sided coolers
- Drones and other unmanned aircraft without written authorization
- Fireworks, laser pointers and any incendiary device
- Bicycles, skateboards, scooters and rollerblades during ticketed events
- Pets outside the Open Grounds and livestock areas (service animals excepted)
- Canopies and large umbrellas in seating areas
- Unauthorized vending, soliciting or leafleting
Yes, you can bring
- Outside food and non-alcoholic drinks in a soft-sided bag or cooler
- Empty reusable water bottles — fill them at the stations
- Cameras, including the good one, for personal use
- Strollers, wagons, wheelchairs and mobility scooters
- Hand-held umbrellas, down at the grandstand please
Bags & entry screening
Bags are checked at the gate during ticketed events and throughout Free Fair week. Open the bag, staff take a look, you go through — it is a few seconds, not a search. Diaper bags, purses and medical bags all go through the same quick check. Coming in without a bag is the fastest line there is.
Code of conduct
Treat staff, exhibitors, performers and the people around you decently. Fighting, harassment, abusive language, visible intoxication, climbing on equipment and refusing a reasonable direction from staff are all grounds for removal from the grounds without a refund, and in serious cases a ban from future events. Nearly everyone who comes here already knew all that.
Service animals & pets
Service animals individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability are welcome everywhere on the grounds. Emotional support, therapy and comfort animals are not service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act and are treated as pets. Pets are limited to the Open Grounds and the livestock areas during applicable events, must be leashed, and are your responsibility to clean up after.
Smoking & vaping
Smoking and vaping are not permitted inside any building or within 25 feet of a building entrance. Designated outdoor areas are marked near the Four Seasons Building, the Exhibition Building and the Grandstand concourse, and each has a proper receptacle.
Accessibility on the grounds
All buildings and primary routes are wheelchair accessible, with accessible parking marked near every entrance, ramped or level entries, and accessible restrooms in each public building. Need a specific accommodation — an interpreter, a mobility escort, seating near an exit? Call (507) 328-6100 at least 72 hours ahead and staff will arrange it.
More on parking, directions and accessible routes on the Plan Your Visit and Grounds Map pages.