ND Tourism Conference

The North Dakota State Fait attended the North Dakota Tourism Conference during the begining of the week in Grand Forks. The conference opened on Friday night with an 80's party with Brat Pack, which was beyond entertaining! The next two days were filled with tons of great information. Speakers included Dr. Jeff Stamp (the inventor of Baked Lays), Matt Bailey (SEO guru) and The Honourable Lynda Haverstock (CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan). Conference attendees had the opportunity to learn about handling and recovering from emergencies, attracting and keeping happy workers as well as the importance of hospitality training. The conference closed out with a very positive tourism update from Sara Otte Coleman and the ND Tourism team. 

North Dakota State Fair Photo Contest!

Submit your photos to nichole@ndstatefair.com and your picture just might be the North Dakota State Fair Pic of the Day on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. By submitting your photos you are giving The North Dakota State Fair rights to utilize your photos, which means your talent could land you a spot on the North Dakota State Fair website, in the newspaper, on a billboard, in a magazine or in a brochure. If we use your photos to advertise the Fair you’ll even win NDSF Swag! Submit your photos now and check back daily to see if you have won bragging rights as the State Fair photo of the day!

Don’t forget to include your name and where you are from when you send in your photo.

Win FREE Concert Tickets!

The Dakota Square Mall in Minot is giving you the chance to win 2 Grandstand Showpasses and 2 Motley Crue tickets! Not to mention a $250 Dakota Square Mall Gift Card!  Click here to sign up. Very soon you'll even be able to purchase your Grandstand Showpasses at the Dakota Square Mall Guest Services Counter. Also, get yourself registered for weekly  ticket drawings for individual concerts and events at the Fair at www.ndstatefair.com

Your Business at the Fair!

If you are looking to have your business and products viewed by nearly one third of North Dakota's population you must be at the Fair! There are two ways for you to gain exposure on the Fairgrounds, through a sponsorship or by becoming an exhibitor. Commercial exhibits are a great way to get your business in front of a lucrative North Dakota market. If early ticket sales numbers are any indication, this will shape up to be a record breaking year for attendance, meaning even more customers will be visiting your booth. The cost of becoming a vendor over the nine days of the Fair starts at only $300. Whether you are selling ag products, machinery, food, clothing or trinkets, get started by clicking here and filling out a booth application. Sponsorships are another way to increase the visibility of your business on the Fairgrounds. The Fair works with any size budget, click here to visit our sponsorship web page for more information on partnering.

Still a few tickets left!

As of this afternoon, only 9 days after tickets went on sale, we have a mere 400 Reserved Grandstand Showpasses left! Our advice to you, if you want a reserved seat get your tickets as soon as humanly possible! The seats we have remaining are still excellent seats in sections Z and U. We also have seats in the wheelchair accessible row. Seats in sections X, Y, V and W are available for General Admission ticket holders and are available on a first come first serve basis the night of the concert. Gates open at 7pm for 8pm concerts! Tickets can be purchased at www.ndstatefair.com/tickets or by phone at 701-852-FAIR.

You don't want to be the only person in the State who misses out on Taylor Swift, Rodney Atkins, Heidi Newfield, Dierks Bentley and Gary Allan!

Don't Delay get your tickets Today!

Grandstand Showpass tickets are now on sale! Get yours soon, the Reserved tickets are selling like hot cakes! Additional tickets on sale include Daily Gate Passes, Season Gate Passes, Advanced Mega Ride Pass and the Family Fun Pack.

This year’s Showpass ticket includes admission to:
Taylor Swift, July 25
Rodney Atkins and Heidi Newfield, July 26
Enduro Race, July 27
Demolition Derby, July 28
The Devonshires with Classic Car Show, July 29
Gary Allan July 30
Dierks Bentley on July 31.

The Showpass is $65 for general admission and $75 for reserved seating.

Visit www.ndstatefair.com/tickets or call 701-852-FAIR to get your tickets today!

Freddy had a great time at the KXMC News studio this morning thanks to the fun guys down there, Joe Goldade and Perry Olson. Heres a look at behind the scenes of Freddy on the morning news and weather!

Freddy Does the News

Freddy decided to pay a visit to the local media around town today and remind them that tickets go on sale tomorrow. He made a cameo appearance on the KXMC Noon Show and got to dance with Kristin from KMOT. He also got to meet some of the local radio personalities. All in all it was a big day. Off to bed for Freddy, he has a big day ahead of him tomorrow!

State Fair Lineup rocks the ACM Awards

The Academy of Country Music held its 44th Annual Awards show last night in Las Vegas. Viewers had the opportunity to see concerts from several star studded entertainers, two of which will be at the Fair in July! Taylor Swift (left photo) sung one of her newest songs while Heidi Newfield (right photo) belted out her hit single "Johnny and June." Additionally, Taylor Swift ended up being one of the biggest winners of the evening when she took homethe Album of the Year award for her album Fearless. Taylor Swift will perform at the Fair on Saturday, July 25th while Heidi Newfield will take to the stage on Sunday, July 26th in a double header with Rodney Atkins.

Win 'em before you can Buy'em!

Even though you can't buy tickets until Wednesday, for the first time in the history of the North Dakota State Fair we are partnering with  radio stations to give you a chance to Win'e before you can Buy'em! Five stations are particpating in this event: 97.1 KYYX of Minot,   The Farm 101.1 in  Brandon (Canada),  KCAD 99.1 in Dickinson, KYYZ FM & KEYZ FM in Williston, and 94.5 KQDY in Bismarck. Each staion will be giving away tickets to Taylor Swift, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley and Rodney Atikins / Heidi Newfield concerts. If you don't win, don't be sad, you can always buy your tickets on Wednesday with the rest of the Fairgoers.

Sandbagging for Ward County

Sandbagging operations are in full swing here at the North Dakota State Fair Center. With some 12,000-13,000 sandbags completed just yesterday, the hard work of Minot residents will most definitely help their neighbors, should they be needed. In the city of Minot there is little worry of flooding, and we are all encouraged to stay calm and work towards being prepared. Every day that does not break freezing temperatures we are one day closer to summer like temperatures capable of flooding closely surrounding areas to Minot and creating problems for our community. If you’d like to help out and join the nice people down here at the State Fair Center all are welcome today through Friday 2:00pm-8:00pm and Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm. Volunteers are encouraged to bring shovels and gloves and to wear appropriate clothing. The Old Burlington Fire Hall is also set up to fill sand bags from the same times. The Mid-Dakota Red Cross will be taking calls from 9:00am-4:00pm to take flood reports and provide more information regarding sandbagging operations at 858-9366.

Check out our Latest Website Addition

In attempt to help out our customers we have added a new page to our website for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The page is under the Guest Info tab on http://www.ndstatefair.com Some of the questions listed include those on purchasing concert tickets, parking, bring pets to the Fair and the types of payment the Fair accepts. Hopefully this page will help North Dakota State Fairgoers learn a little bit more about the Fair. Leave us a comment if we've left any important questions unanswered!

Freddy the Flickertail!

Freddy the Flickertail, the North Dakota State Fair mascot, came out of hibernation today! He helped out around the office by watching over the staff (to make sure they were doing their jobs right) and he filled in for Stacey, who is out due to the stormy weather. He was pretty good at answering phones and helping customers at the window. Freddy couldn't stick around for long, he had a Doctor's appointment with a seamstress, it seems that some kids yanked his tail off during the Fair last year. He had to go under the needle to get a new one sewed on. Don't worry he'll be back to normal in no time at all!

2009 Governor's Photo Contest

The North Dakota Governor's photo contest encourages ND amateur photogs to submit photos, capturing the unique things to see and do in North Dakota. Winning photos are then used in North Dakota Tourism's marketing materials and newsletters.

One of last year's winning photos was from a carnival ride at the 2008 North Dakota State Fair! The winning, photo featured here, was taken by Joleyn Larson of Manda. North Dakota State Fairgoers are encouraged to submit their 2009 Fair photos to the contest by logging on to www.ndtourism.com for full rules and information on to how to submit.

Dierks!!! Showpass Tickets on Sale April 8th!

We are sooooo excited to announce that Dierks Bentley, has been added to the North Dakota State Fair concert lineup! Dierks will close out the 2009 country lineup on Friday, July 31. Known for hit songs like “What Was I Thinkin’,” “Come a Little Closer,” and his newest single “Feel That Fire” this will be one of the biggest concerts of the Fair!

We are also excited to be answering the most sought after question about the Fair: When are tickets going on sale? Well, tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 8 at 8:00 a.m! You can purchase online at www.ndstatefair.com, at the North Dakota State Fair Box Office, weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by calling 701-852-FAIR or 701-857-7620.

Tickets available on April 8 include: Reserved Seating Cenex Grandstand Showpass, General Admission Cenex Grandstand Showpass, Adult & Junior Daily Gate Passes, Adult & Junior Season Gate Passes, Advanced Mega Ride Pass and the Family Fun Pack.

This year’s Showpass ticket includes admission to Taylor Swift, July 25; Rodney Atkins and Heidi Newfield, July 26; Enduro Race, July 27; Demolition Derby, July 28; The Devonshires with Classic Car Show, July 29; Gary Allan July 30; and Dierks Bentley on July 31. The Showpass is $65 for general admission and $75 for reserved seating.

Announcements on the final rock concert and Motley Crue ticket on-sale date will be made public soon. Tickets can be purchased with cash or credit card only.