What's happening at Graham Park

Gates open daily at 9:00 AM, admission is free as it has been since 1867, and parking is $10 per car. Expect the block of 3rd Avenue SE nearest the Main Gate to run one-way inbound during peak hours, with the South Gate reserved for RVs and livestock haulers. Lot A fills first on Friday and Saturday evenings; the North Gate into Lot B is almost always the faster way in after 5:00 PM.

A free shuttle loops the off-site park-and-ride lot to the Main Gate every 15 minutes from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Vendor and exhibitor move-in runs July 25 and 26 through the Service Gate; every booth needs to be set and inspected by 6:00 PM on the 26th. Rideshare pickup and drop-off is on the 3rd Avenue SE circle just outside the Main Gate.

The previous arena surface had given us close to fifteen good years and was starting to show it. The grounds crew worked through May pulling the old decking and setting new high-density composite panels across both floors. The new surface is flatter under skates, more forgiving under stock, and considerably faster to change over between a hockey weekend and a trade show.

The project came in on budget, in part because our own crew handled demolition and prep rather than contracting it out. Both arenas are back in the rental calendar at the published rate — $1,800 a day for one, $2,900 for both — and fall dates are already moving. Call the events office if you have been waiting on this to book.

We have opened the 2026–2027 fall and winter booking season about a month earlier than usual. Returning organizers and new groups can now hold dates in the Four Seasons Building, the Exhibition Building, Floral Hall & Pavilion and either arena from September 1 forward. A 25% booking deposit converts a courtesy hold into a confirmed date, with the balance due 30 days out.

If past years are any guide, Saturday wedding blocks in Floral Hall and December party dates in the Exhibition Building will be spoken for by August. Site tours run weekday mornings through the summer; email the events office and we will find you a time. The Planner Resources page has the specs and the timeline if you want to do your homework first.

Over the winter we finished a multi-phase accessibility project on the main loop. Concrete curb ramps with tactile warning surfaces went in at nine intersections, the path from Lot A to the Exhibition Building was widened to eight feet and regraded, and two restroom buildings received compliant fixtures, grab bars and door hardware.

The scope came out of an accessibility audit and from listening to people who told us where the grounds were hard to use. Next year's phase looks at the Grandstand seating area and at accessible routes through the barns during fair week. If something on the grounds still does not work for you, tell the office — that feedback is genuinely how this list gets written.

The Graham Park campground opens for the 2026 season in mid-April, once the water is back on and the loop has dried out. We have 45 full-hookup sites at $42 a night, 30 water-and-electric sites at $35, and 20 primitive tent sites at $20, plus contiguous blocks held for group and exhibitor camping. Weekly and monthly rates are on the camping page.

The bathhouse, dump station, coin laundry and dog run all open with the loop. Reservations for Free Fair week (July 27 through August 2) open April 1 — livestock exhibitors and concessionaires have first call and the full-hookup row is typically gone by early June. Call the office or email to hold a site.

2025 was the busiest season in Graham Park's history, with 310 event days on the calendar. The Free Fair drew more than 120,000 people across its seven days. Alongside the standing favorites — the dog trials, the car shows, the 4-H livestock exhibitions and a full winter of arena hockey — we picked up several new annual events that have already rebooked for 2026.

None of that happens without the hundreds of volunteers who work gates, guide parking, staff the information booth and pick up the grounds at the end of a long day. Our sponsors and in-kind partners contributed more than $120,000 in cash and donated services, which is a large part of why the fair is still free at the gate. Thank you. See you in April.