Grandstand

08/27/2026

Opening Day!

The ultimate State Fair hack? The Official MN State Fair App! 📲

Plan your day, save favorites, navigate the grounds, see competition results and more. Get the most up-to-date information directly from the State Fair on your phone!

The only app created and maintained by the Minnesota State Fair itself – available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Download and learn more: mnstatefair.org/web/app

08/25/2026

A record-setting Fair — and a great example of how to make an event app part of the experience. 🎡📱

The 2026 Iowa State Fair welcomed an all-time record 1,218,834 fairgoers, breaking the previous record set in 2024. It also set multiple individual-day attendance records.

We’re incredibly proud that the Official Iowa State Fair App, powered by Grandstand Apps, was part of that historic year.
But what we especially love about working with the Iowa State Fair is that they don't simply have an app.

They give fairgoers reasons to use it.

This year, that meant:
🍴Best New Food voting with more than 80 new foods competing and 15,954 votes ultimately cast for the People's Choice winner.
🍹 Best New Drink with Alcohol voting directly through the app.
🥤 Best New Drink without Alcohol voting directly through the app. The Fair ultimately crowned winners in both drink categories.
❤️ Full, favoritable menus for food vendors for the first time, letting fairgoers browse what was available and save the individual foods they wanted to try.
📍 Connecting those food vendors directly to the map, turning “That looks good” into “Here’s exactly where to find it.”
📲 Prominent on-site promotion of the app, including signage and QR codes, placed where fairgoers could immediately download it and participate.

That combination is important.

The app wasn't just a place to check the schedule or pull up a map. It became a tool for discovering what to eat, deciding what to try, saving favorites, finding them on the Fairgrounds, and participating in some of the Fair's biggest food and drink competitions.

And when you're welcoming more than 1.2 million people over 11 days, making it easier for guests to discover and navigate everything happening across the Fairgrounds matters.
Congratulations to the entire Iowa State Fair team on a record-setting, history-making 2026 Iowa State Fair. We're proud of what we've been able to build together — and even more proud to see how effectively their team puts those tools to work.
The best event apps don't just tell people what's happening. They help people experience more of the event.

08/06/2026

Now that is a list we are proud to be part of! 🎉
Four Grandstand Apps clients were named among America’s Top 10 State Fairs for Food, according to Yelp:
🥇 Minnesota State Fair, No. 1
🌽 Iowa State Fair, No. 3
🍩 The Big E, No. 7
🍟 Florida State Fair, No. 8
We are proud to help guests discover all that great fair food through their official apps. Across these fairs, visitors can or soon will be able to favorite individual food items, build their own personal must-eat list, and view their saved stops directly on the fair map.
Congratulations to all four fairs on this well-deserved recognition!
Read the full ranking from Food & Wine:
https://www.foodandwine.com/best-state-fair-for-food-yelp-report-12029548

07/03/2026

Lists are one of the most flexible parts of a Grandstand app, and now manual ordering can go deeper.
For apps submitted after June 30, 2026, manual sorting can be applied inside subcategories, giving organizers more control over food lists, shopping sections, sponsors, exhibitors, businesses, attractions, and more.

07/02/2026

Home Page Tickers are now included in Platinum+ apps, giving events a flexible new way to promote updates, sponsors, schedules, vendors, reminders, and app features directly from the home screen.
Use them before the event, during the event, and after the event to keep important information easy to find without relying on push notifications for every update.

07/01/2026

What kind of fairgoer are you? What is your festival vibe? What should you explore today?

Personalized Discovery Quizzes turn quick attendee answers into custom results, recommended app content, and even result-based rewards. They are a fun way to guide people toward the food, entertainment, activities, sponsors, or experiences they are most likely to enjoy.

06/26/2026

It has been an exciting season for Grandstand, with several new festival clients joining us since April 1.

Welcome to Summer Camp Music Festival, Ballhooter Festival, Tree Town Festival, Summers End Angus, West Side Nut Club Fall Festival and The Big Dill.

From music lineups and food vendors to maps, alerts, schedules, sponsor opportunities, and real-time updates, festival apps give attendees one easy place to find what they need before and during the event.

We are excited to help these events create a smoother, more connected experience for their fans.

04/30/2026

Want to know what your attendees actually care about while your event is happening?
With our updated Event Favorites Analytics, you can see what’s trending in near real-time and make smarter adjustments on the fly.
No digging through reports. No waiting until it’s over.
Just clear insight into what’s working.

04/26/2026

The ACM - Academy of Country Music Awards just announced their Fair/Rodeo of the Year nominees… and we’re proud to support 2 of the 5:
• Florida Strawberry Festival
• San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
Both of these events use Grandstand to power their mobile app experience, helping attendees navigate schedules, explore maps, discover vendors, and stay connected throughout the event.
It’s always rewarding to see the events we work with recognized at this level. These are two incredibly well-run organizations that put on amazing experiences year after year.
Grateful to be a small part of it.

03/31/2026

Over the past month, we’ve welcomed an incredible group of events to the Grandstand platform

Music & Cultural Festivals
Stars of Texas, Flagstaff Folk Festival, and Peoria Irish Fest are making it easier for fans to explore lineups, build personalized schedules, and navigate performances seamlessly all in one place.

County & Community Fairs
Little State Fair (Brown County Ohio), Manitowoc County Fair - Wisconsin, Armada Fair, and Meigs 4-H are enhancing their events with easy-to-use schedules, interactive maps, and real-time alerts to keep attendees connected throughout the fair.

Excited to get these live and help create great experiences for attendees across the country