FALCON HEIGHTS — Aside from stalwart animal-lovers who wanted to watch live dog and cat surgeries in the Pet Center or skateboarders looking to catch some new twists, the north end of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds hasn’t drawn a lot of traffic.

Nothing like the clustered corridors flanking the Food Building or streets leading to the barns or Grandstand.

But when the 2018 Minnesota State Fair opens Thursday in Falcon Heights, fairgoers may want to head that way.

“It was thin,” State Fair spokeswoman Danielle Dullinger says about the north end. “There wasn’t a whole lot going on up there.”