State Fair Day 4: Fiddle Contests, Milk Runs and Minnesota Chefs

To know:  Barns close at 3 p.m., and cattle, goats, rabbits, pigeons, sheep and swine will be replaced by new animals. Check out the fair’s website for a full schedule of the day’s activities and events.

To race: The 27th annual 5k Milk Run begins at 7:45 a.m. at the Blue Ribbon Picnic Area. The course winds through St. Paul before returning to the fairgrounds for the finish.

To watch: The Minnesota State Fiddle Contest comes to its conclusion at 2 p.m. in Heritage Square with trick fiddling and twin fiddling contests, and with a championship playoff.

To taste: It’s Minnesota Cooks Day at the fair, and Carousel Park is home to discussions and demonstrations about sustainable agriculture with Minnesota chefs, farmers, local media, politicians and artists. Twelve chefs present 45-minute cooking demonstrations, and audience interaction is encouraged.

To hear: Six bands—Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, My Darkest Days, Adelitas Way and Emphatic—will play at the Grandstand during the “Carnival of Madness.” General admission tickets are available for $35 and reserved Grandstand for $30.

Quote for the day: “Amid all this rotating neon and the mechanical clowns and plunging machinery’s roar and jagged screams and barkers’ pitches and high-volume rock, [the crowds] seem radically happy, vivid, somehow awakened, sponges for sensuous data, not bombarded by the stimuli but feeding on it.” - David Foster Wallace, on the Illinois State Fair

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Want more fair coverage? See who from St. Louis Park has won ribbons, and meet a local couple selling unique pet items. We've also got a handy guide on how to get to the fair. Want to share your fair story or your fair photos? Email michael.rose@patch.com.