Minnesota State Fair opens late Tuesday after weather delay

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota State Fair opened at 9 a.m. Tuesday, two hours after its scheduled opening time, due to a delay caused by severe weather.

Fair organizers said on-site parking lots are open, as well as park and ride lots. Some vendors and attractions may not be open right away.

The fair initially announced a delay at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday. An hour after that, organizers said the fairgrounds would be "closed until further notice for damage assessment and debris cleanup" and asked the public not to come to the fair.

Storms pounded the metro, including the fairgrounds, both Monday night and Tuesday morning. Fair officials postponed Monday evening's Grandstand performance before canceling it altogether. All free stage entertainment was also canceled and all Mighty Midway and Kidway rides and games closed early for the night.

As Tuesday morning's storms move out of the Twin Cities, a cooler day is expected to follow.

Through the first four days of the fair, two daily attendance records were broken and total attendance topped 629,000.