Short Schedule of Sesquicentennial Events at the State Fair Chautauqua: 150 Years of Statehood in the Big Top Tent near Heritage Square
State Fair Volunteers Needed
We’re looking for volunteers to help staff the Big Top Sesqui compound at the Fair.
All events and shows are FREE with State Fair admission
Daily Events
- Old Minnesota Song of the North Star Musical Tribute Show in Big Top Tent at 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00
- Sesquicentennial Mosaic unveiled August 21, 10:00 in the Food Building, corner of Dan Patch and Cooper Streets
Events in green will be taped live with the Big Top tent audience by Twin Cities Public Television and will be broadcast in late September.
Thursday, Aug. 21:
- 10 to 11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years opening session and series overview.
- Conversation One: Sesquicentennial Director Jane Leonard will discuss the origin of the Minnesota, Real and Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years initiative and how it’s given focus to a number of Sesquicentennial civic engagement efforts and those of partner organizations.
- Conversation Two: The State We’re In: Minnesota Images and Identity, Then and Now. TPT host and political reporter Mary Lahammer will talk with several historians, including Kate Roberts, developer of the Historical Society’s MN150 Exhibit, about how Minnesota and Minnesotans have changed since the state’s Centennial in 1958
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories: Minnesota’s Black Pioneers (Twin Cities Public Television documentary screening).
Friday, Aug. 22:
- 9 to 11 a.m. Release of MAKE IT MINNESOTAN Sesquicentennial Cookbook: Come celebrate –and purchase your copy--with the cooks and chroniclers who put together recipes and memories gathered from every corner of the great state of Minnesota.
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with Elisa Korenne’s Minnesota UnSung Concert exploring in music and song the lives of ordinary, “unsung” Minnesotans such the Boundary Water’s “Rootbeer Lady,” Dorothy Moulter, and Joseph Studer, “Moonshine Maker of Benton County.”
Saturday, Aug. 23
- 10 to 11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council Cultural Resource Center discussions and illustrations of Native American cultures and traditions, including a performance by the Leech Lake Nation drum group.
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with SAMPLE NIGHT LIVE ON A STICK “Sample Night Live on a Stick”! Sample Night Live is a new Twin Cities company that showcases a dozen ten-minute previews of upcoming local arts events. Sample Night Live is at the Minnesota State Fair in celebration of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial, as a salute to Minnesota’s grand history of Vaudeville. Companies include Rince na Chroi, Irish Dancers; Jonathan Bryce, world-record holding daredevil escape artist; The Boogie Blossoms, dance company for kids; Prime Time Players, old-time radio theater; and The Megawatts, rock band. One lucky audience member will win 2 tickets to The Guthrie’s production of Arthur Miller’s A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, which opens September 13.
Sunday, Aug. 24
- 10 – 11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real and Imagined with Memories and Memorabilia from the Early Days of Minnesota’s Computer Industry, stories and artifacts from the early days of the ‘computer age’ and projections of what the future may hold.
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with “MN@2058” Film screening by Sesquicentennial Fellows about Minnesotans’ visions, aspirations, and expectations for life in 2058.
Monday, Aug. 25
- 10 – 11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years About Education
- Conversation One: "Vanishing Grads and Minnesota’s Future."
- Conversation Two: “21st Century Schools: What’s Needed?
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with the Sesqui-Century Farm Recognition Presentation by the Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture, Gene Hugoson.
Tuesday, Aug. 26
- 10 – 11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years About Our Environment and ‘Great Outdoors.’
- Conversation One, Understanding and Protecting Our Legacy.
- Conversation Two, Going Green in Morris: Building Sustainable Communities. Charlie Maguire, the “singing Park Ranger,” will open the session with song and stories that remind us what we treasure—and what’s at stake—as we talk about conservation and environmental stewardship.
- Conversation One, Understanding and Protecting Our Legacy.
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with NATIVE AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURE discussion with staff and guests associated with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.
Wednesday, Aug. 27
- 10-11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years About Health and Wellness
- Conversations One: tentatively called "Untangling the Health Care Knot: Prospects for Reform?"
- Conversation Two: Entitled "All Above Average? What Kids Need to Thrive”
- Conversation Three: “Age Wave.”
- Conversations One: tentatively called "Untangling the Health Care Knot: Prospects for Reform?"
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories featuring State Fair premieres of two Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatreproductions: From River to the River, a puppet show featuring the journey of water from the Mississippi River, through the waterworks, and back to the River; and Land of 10,000 Lakes, a performance for small children (and their families) focusing on Minnesota¹s 150- year connection to water.
Thursday, Aug. 28
- 10 – 11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years About Business and Innovation --This morning will begin with a short and lively illustrated tour of Minnesota’s early computing history---and how we could have become Silicon Valley.
- Conversation One: “Sustaining a Culture of Innovation in Minnesota.
- Conversation Two: “Young Innovators from The Invention Crew”
- Conversation Three: “Taking Care of Business: View From Main Street.”
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with folk singers “Curtis & Loretta” and tunes and songs from the new Minnesota Heritage Songbook.
Friday, Aug. 29
- 10-11:30 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined: CONSTITUTION DAY Celebration. Current Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson will recreate the life and times of Loren Collins, another Supreme Court Justice and Civil War veteran, whose family arrived in Minnesota before statehood.
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with more Chautauqua-style historic enactments based on real characters in Minnesota legal history. Supreme Court Justices Paul Anderson and Lorie Gildea.
Saturday, Aug. 30
- 10 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined with Minnesota’s Greatest Generation Film Festival, a screening of award-winning short films about the experiences of Minnesota men and women who experienced the Great Depression and World War II era.
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories with the COUNTY LINES Minnesota Poetry Slam featuring readings by authors published in this new book of poetry.
Sunday, Aug. 31
- 10 a.m. Minnesota, Real & Imagined celebrating Minnesota’s 150th birthday with clown scholar Professor Historificus and his astute cat, Walter Mondale, as they unravel stories behind great Minnesota inventions in Minnesota AHA! by Circus Minimus Puppetry (suitable for the pre-school set).
- 3 p.m. Minnesota Memories: When I First Came to this Land. Songs and stories about the Minnesota immigrant experience with Ross Sutter. A well-known Minnesota folksinger, Ross has built his reputation with fresh interpretations of Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian and Northern European songs, and with his unique repertoire of children's music. Ross has toured Europe several times, most recently in the fall of 2006. He has performed on radio, television and at festivals all over the Midwest and works regularly in schools teaching the songs and folk dances that he has collected over the years. He plays an impressive array of instruments--guitar, bodhran, button accordion, dulcimer, bones--but is best known for his singular baritone voice.
Monday, Sept. 1
Capitals for a Day at the Fair
- 9 a.m. – 5:30 CAROUSEL PARK--150th Anniversary of Statehood with the five Minnesota Honorary State Capitals’ showcase of regional character and culture. Communities participating include Bemidji, New Ulm, Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes, and Winona.
- Music from The Woodpicks
- Entertainment from Lena
- Join the 5 Capitals for free cake at the park
- Stop by the stage for trivia, music and entertainment from DL
- Come on and dance with the Schell’s Hobo Band
- Watch the parade and see the Winona Calliope and highlights from Detroit Lakes
- Come hear (and see) the famous Winona Calliope
For Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial Anniversary – 5 communities representing the 5 natural regions across the state, were chosen to be honorary Capitals for a Day (a title that has carried throughout 2008). For Labor Day we are showcasing each community at Carousel Park. Be sure to swing by the park for lots of free entertainment. We might even be able to hear the New Ulm Schell’s Hobo Band playing right now!
9am to 10:30am – Thief River Falls (Tallgrass Aspen)
10:30am to 11am – Birthday Cake
11am to 12:30pm – Detroit Lakes (Driftless Area)
1pm to 3pm – New Ulm (Prairie Grasslands)
2pm to 3pm – Parade
3:30pm to 5pm – Winona (Driftless Area)
For more information go to www.mn150years.org or call the main office at 651-296-1870 or call Jane Leonard at 651-303-5263 (or email jane@mn150years.org ).