Eager fairgoers line up before dawn for MN State Fair kickoff

"You have to get up early if you want to be the first one through the gates on opening day of the Minnesota State Fair.

Really, really early.

As usual, Minneapolis resident Brian Motiaytis was first in line for the first day. The northeast Minneapolis resident staked out his spot at 1:20 a.m. He settled in on the benches by the Snelling Avenue entry and visited with the same gate staff he's held vigil with for the past several summers.

"I'm a morning person," said Motiaytis, who estimates he spends 10 hours a day, every day, at the fair during its 12-day run. "This year I was really antsy. I needed to get here just in case somebody got in front of me."

These are the high holy days for fans of deep-fried foods on sticks. The Great Minnesota Get-Together kicked off officially at 6 a.m., when the fairground gates swung wide to admit the crowds that had been waiting before sunrise -- a group that included Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and the newly crowned State Fair dairy princess and her court.

"I couldn't sleep last night. It was like Christmas Eve," said Seth Johnson, who came in from St. Louis Park and snagged a spot near the front of the line.

Early risers find most of the rides and fairground attractions still shuttered, but they get to enjoy the advantages of ample parking, sparse crowds and pristine restrooms. Many, like Motiaytis, take advantage of the early morning peace to meet friends for coffee and breakfast.

Vendors lined up as well, to offer a sneak peek at the new foods on offer this year -- wine-fried kalettes, stuffed Italian meatloaf on a stick, dessert nachos, honey sticks.

Ginger Johnson of Apple Valley, who times her vacations around the fair every year. Some of her co-workers think she's crazy, she said, but here in the growing line of fair early birds, she knows better.

"I'm not crazy," she said with a laugh. "Look at all the other people who are here too."

For Johnson -- who boarded a bus at 3 a.m. to snag a spot near the front of the entry line -- staking out the first day of the fair is a beloved family tradition.