NDSF Makes Changes for Military Appreciation Day

State Fair Manager Craig Rudland has been around the North Dakota State Fair for over 25 years, but 2024 will be his first as Manager. For Charlene Ratliff, Marketing Manager, this will be her first year having planned an entire marketing approach for the fair. Both Craig and Char had decided the approach to Military Appreciation Day marketing could certainly be improved.

“We got together and said, how can we change Military Appreciation Day to make it better for our Active Duty Military and Veterans? We knew that it started with access. Used to be that we would run a coupon in local newspapers, but coupons are not as popular as they used to be” says Rudland. The answer was pretty simple. A Military ID would take the place of the once used coupons. “We worked with Public Affairs at the base to get copies of the Military ID’s that our ticket booths might see. If they present one of the military ID’s, it gives them 50% off of their admission to the fair” says Ratliff.

The next challenge would be the ticket booths that would accept Military ID’s for the discount. “We just figured that every ticket booth would accept the ID’s. No need to limit access to the fair for anyone. Their Military ID’s will work at every single ticket booth” continues Rudland. So that was simple. Use your military ID to get a 50% discount to the North Dakota State Fair on Tuesday, July 23rd.

But entrance to the state fair is only part of what makes Military Appreciation Day special. “Yeah, the carnival will be offering free rides between 1 and 3 PM. And if you don’t get your fill of rides from 1 to 3 PM, with a Military ID you can get an Unlimited Daily Ride wristband. Ride as many rides as you want for $20.00” says Rudland.

All of this is in addition to the free picnic lunch provided from 11 AM to 3 PM under the tent on the northeast parking lot, near Commercial Exhibit II. “The Go Cart rides will offer either $1.00 off Single Go Cart Rides or $2.00 off Double Go Cart rides” according to Rudland.

But it isn’t only Military Appreciation Day that makes the North Dakota State Fair so family friendly, “we still have all of the free stages on the grounds. We’ll have a couple of military bands performing that day, including the 188th Army Band sponsored by the North Dakota Army National Guard” known as the Blues in Green and at Noon the 188th will also have a rock band performance on Stage 2.

That night in Arena 1 will be day 2 of the Bull Riding Challenge & Ranch Bronc Riding, and in the Grandstand, the MHA presents their Indian Horse Relay.

Tickets and information for all events are available on the North Dakota State Fair website ndstatefair.com.
“I guess we really want to get the message out that we’ve taken steps to make the North Dakota State Fair more military friendly” says Rudland “because we want to show our appreciation to our veterans and active duty military”.
The Military Appreciation Day at the Fair is presented by the Minot Area Chamber EDC Military Affairs Committee.