SouthWest Transit will provide bus service to the Minnesota State Fair this year, and, for the first time, to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. The transit company is offering a “buy one, get one” promotion in which riders who purchase a bus ticket to one event can ride to the other for free.
The cost of a bus ticket to either event is $6 for adults, with children 5 and under, and disabled veterans with proper identification, riding for free. The tickets do not specify a date or time, so riders can use them at a time that fits their schedules.
SouthWest Transit will provide bus service to the State Fair from Thursday, Aug. 22, through Sunday, Sept. 1, with no service on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, the last day of the fair.
Buses to the fair will depart daily from SouthWest Station in Eden Prairie, SouthWest Village in Chanhassen, East Creek Station in Chaska, and Carver Station in Carver beginning at 6:30 a.m., with subsequent departures every 30 minutes until the evening’s final departure. The last bus to the State Fair will depart at 7:30 p.m. from SouthWest Station in Eden Prairie, 7:20 p.m. from SouthWest Village in Chanhassen, 7:10 p.m. from East Creek Station in Chaska, and 7 p.m. from Carver Station.
Buses will return to the stations from the fair every 30 minutes throughout the day, with the last bus leaving the fair at 11:30 p.m., or 30 minutes after the grandstand event ends.
SouthWest Transit service to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival will operate during the festival’s seven weekends, from Aug. 17-18 through Sept. 28-29, as well as on Festival Friday, Sept. 27. As with the State Fair, there will be no bus service to the Renaissance Festival on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, even though it is one of the two weekdays the festival will be open in addition to Saturdays and Sundays.
Buses to the Renaissance Festival will leave SouthWest Station in Eden Prairie and SouthWest Village in Chanhassen beginning at 8 a.m. and 8:10, respectively, with subsequent departures scheduled for every 30 minutes throughout the day. Final departure times for buses headed to the Renaissance Festival are 4:25 p.m. for SouthWest Station and 4:35 p.m. for SouthWest Village.
Buses will return from the Renaissance Festival to the stations beginning at 11:05 a.m. and every 30 minutes thereafter until the final bus leaves the festival at 7:35 p.m.
A schedule for Renaissance Festival bus departure and return times for the Carver Station and East Creek Station in Chaska is available on the SouthWest Transit website.
SouthWest Transit tickets for State Fair or Renaissance Festival service can be purchased in advance by downloading the Token Transit app for iOS or Android and following the instructions (riders should activate the pass only when ready to board the bus and show the pass when boarding). Purchasers will receive a digital ticket for each event. Tickets can also be purchased on-site during fair service with cash (exact change) or credit card. On-site ticket purchasers who choose the buy-one-get-one promotion will receive a physical ticket stub, which they must retain for their ride to the next event.
SouthWest Transit will also offer discounted ticket days for seniors and military (active or retired) with proper identification for on-site ticket purchases on the same days that discounts are offered at the events. Bus tickets will be $3 for seniors on Monday, Aug. 26, and Thursday, Aug. 29, and $3 for military on Tuesday, Aug. 27, and Sunday, Sept. 15. These discounts cannot be combined with the buy-one-get-one promotion.
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