Fun Finder: Visit the State Fair kickoff, a farm or local theaters this Memorial Day weekend (original) (raw)
What began as a one-time boost for State Fair vendors during the pandemic has turned into a popular springtime mini-Fair that returns this weekend.
The sixth annual Kickoff to Summer at the Fair runs from May 21 to 24, and it’s growing. Among the new activities at the sampler event this year are a horse jumping show, a second-chance display of popular 2025 crop art pieces and several additional food and shopping vendors — plus, of course, perennial favorites like the Giant Slide and several live music stages. Tickets, which are tied to a specific date and time, are $17 for all visitors over the age of 4 and can be found at mnstatefair.org/kickoff-to-summer.
This long weekend also includes Memorial Day on May 25; we’ll publish a more thorough roundup of Memorial Day events in the Pioneer Press over the weekend.
Here are some other ideas for the next few days:
Thursday, May 21 to Sunday, May 24
Actors perform in a dress rehearsal for Unlabeled Theatre Company's show "Once Upon A Mattress" on May 12, 2026. The theater company is unique for casting each role with two actors: One participant with disabilities performs alongside a "shadow partner" for the full production. (Jordan Buckellew / Unlabeled Theatre Company)
Support community theater: It’s closing weekend for “Once Upon A Mattress” presented by Unlabeled Theatre Company, which has a unique double-casting style: Every role is performed side-by-side by an actor with disabilities and a “shadow partner.” The theater company also hosts daily arts-centered life skills classes and employs artists with disabilities for set work, tech crew and other design roles. “Once Upon A Mattress” opened earlier this month at the Gremlin Theater, 550 Vandalia Street (wheelchair-accessible parking and seating available); upcoming showtimes are 11 a.m. May 21, 7 p.m. May 22 and 23 and 2 p.m. May 24. Tickets are $30 and available online at unlabeledtheatre.org/calendar.
Friday, May 22
Digging in the dirt: Gibbs Farm, the educational farm run by the fine folks at the Ramsey County Historical Society, doesn’t formally open till May 23 (more on that momentarily!) but they need your help getting things ready. During a midday volunteer session from 10 a.m. to noon, head over to the farm to help with planting, weeding, maintenance and other outdoor projects. If you can go, let them know at rchs.com/events. Farm staff will provide all materials and instructions, but wear closed-toed shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting, literally, dirty; 2097 W Larpenteur Ave.
Saturday, May 23
Visitors to Gibbs Farm, an educational farm in Falcon Heights operated by the Ramsey County Historical Society, look at goats and other animals in an undated courtesy photo. The farm opens for the 2026 season with an ice cream social event on Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Courtesy of Gibbs Farm)
Speaking of the farm…: Get a moooo-ove on and enjoy some homemade ice cream at the farm’s opening day celebration. Activities also include tours of the farmhouse, a replica Dakota summer lodge, a tipi, farm animals and live music from the local folk group Light of the Moon. The event runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; admission is 10foradults,10 for adults, 10foradults,7 for seniors, $5 for children 4–16 and free for kids 3 and under, and parking is free.
Come to the bark side: It’s Dog Days over in downtown White Bear Lake. More than a dozen rescue groups and vendors will set up along Washington Square, by Railroad Park, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Storyteller Helen Gregg in her puppet show "You'll See...," which retells James Joyce's classic novel "Ulysses" in a kid-friendly way. The show, produced by Galway theatre company Branar, is stopping at the Celtic Junction Arts Center in St. Paul in May 2026. (Courtesy of Celtic Junction Arts Center)
For the wee lads out there: Who says “Ulysses,” Irish author James Joyce’s impenetrably verbose experimental novel, can’t be for younger audiences, too? Not storyteller Helen Gregg and the Galway-based Branar Theatre, that’s for sure. Her show “You’ll See…,” which incorporates live theater, paper puppets and original music to retell (the age-appropriate parts of) Leopold Bloom’s day for kids and adults 8 and up, is coming to the Celtic Junction Arts Center’s performance hall; 836 Prior Avenue. Tickets to the two 45-minute showtimes — 1 and 4 p.m. — are 20foradultsand20 for adults and 20foradultsand10 for kids, available at celticjunction.org/event/youll-see.
Monday, May 25
Honor history: To observe Memorial Day, a variety of events are taking place at Historic Fort Snelling. The lineup includes a flag-raising at 10:15 a.m.; a cannon firing at noon and musket firing at 1 p.m.; fife and drum concerts at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; Brooklyn Big Band concerts at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; a historic baseball game at 3 and a flag-lowering at 3:45 before the fort closes at 4.
Also on Memorial Day at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, a ceremony at 10 a.m. will honor veterans buried or memorialized there. The Fort Snelling National Cemetery Memorial Rifle Squad will provide military honors and its commander, Richard Middleton, will speak; 34th Infantry Division “Red Bull” Band will perform. Flags will be displayed at gravesites by the group Flags for Fort Snelling, and while it’s too late to sign up to help place the flags beforehand, you can sign up online to volunteer next weekend, May 30 and 31, to help safely collect the flags.
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