Benton County Fair — Local services in Sauk Rapids

I usually run a booth at the fair and it's handled well, however I'm leaving a bad review due to the handling of a tornado warning and massive storm that hit on August 3th 2024. Earlier in the week, we were told that the ice rink will be the storm shelter. Once the sirens went off a staff member in a golf cart went through the arena and yelled at everyone that the building was closed and we had to get out. This became a every man for themselves as people tried to find a way to get to a safe spot off the fairground, which became a traffic jam, I have no idea what the people who walked to the fair were supposed to do. Apparently 10-15 minutes after telling everyone to leave, they opened the building back up for people to take cover after the rain was coming down so hard it was shaking vehicles and stands, but that just created a security problem as many of the vendors, myself included, fled as we were told to, leaving our booths and our merchandise unprotected. This is a completely chaotic and unprofessional way to Handle severe weather especially with such a large crowd. My suggestion: you should have been getting people into the multiple buildings on the property as soon as the severe weather threat was issued not kick everyone out and then wait untill it's heavily raining sideways to let...

As like every year, what's there to say!? It's The Benton County Fair!! Fun for the whole family there's something for everyone! A cool stroll through the Midway and you've got the usual carnival games with the step right up win yourself a giant teddy bear on one end and the lose your lunch rides you tell stories about for years on the other end! Did someone say beer? What's that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of exhaust roars from them trucks and tractors ripping up the mud for the excited fans and families cheering them on from the grandstands. Sure the beer gardens in the sea of people somewhere, filled with smiling familiar faces and a guarantee of someones beer splashing on you at some point before the journeys over! It's all great fun! But a bit on the typical side hoping to see something new and exciting in the...

Wasn't a good experience. Other than live animal displays, not worth the time. Got duped by the ticket seller and ticket takers at the demo derby. We were late. They told us we had a good two hours of derby left, so we bought 5 tickets ($60). We were not in there but 15 minutes, and they opened the gates to let people in for free because it was almost over. The derby was done within 30 minutes. Contacted the fair board and they said sorry for the inconvenience, no refunds. I understand they do not refund for weather, but when we are told a blatant lie so they can get more money I have gone to this fair every year for the last 23 years. I will never go back to the Benton...