Firm Recommendation: Naturalization Ceremony at the Minnesota State Fair
For those of you who do not already know: I love the Minnesota State Fair. There is a lot about the State Fair that I love: honey ice cream, the Fine Arts Building, listening to music, running into friends and neighbors, the llama costume contest, math-on-a-stick, kids’ art at the Education building, and Vietnamese iced coffee (see recipe here, but I fell in love with it at the State Fair, and you can get some there!)—and so much more.
However, my all-time favorite thing to do at the Minnesota State Fair is to go to the international bazaar and watch a Naturalization Ceremony. This is the ceremony where immigrants—who have worked for years to this goal—take their Oath of Allegiance and legally become United States citizens.
If you have never attended a naturalization ceremony, you should try to see one at some point. They are incredibly moving and rewarding ceremonies. A few years ago, The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started having these ceremonies at the MN State Fair. I attended one just yesterday; if you want to go this year, there is another tomorrow, Wednesday, September 2nd at 9am at the International Bazaar. It is an annual highlight for me.
It’s a beautiful thing to see new Minnesotans choose to take their oath surrounded by other Minnesotans at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.
