5 Can’t-Miss Steele County Summer Events

If you weren't already thinking about summer, this extended stretch of warmer weather should have you dreaming about parades, live outdoor music and the Steele County Fair.

So many major local events are coming up this summer, that you should plan your vacation around them.

• Medford Straight River Days, June 14-16, featuring an extreme car show, fire 5K and Miss Medford Pageant.
• Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival, June 16 in Owatonna, essentially a parade that ONLY features marching bands. This is a fantastic event.
• Blooming Prairie Fourth of July Parade, a mammoth small-town parade.
• Owatonna's Crazy Days, July 26-28, it's a little silly, a little crazy, plus there's the Steele County American Dairy Association with their malt stand and the Steele County Pork Producers serving their pork patties in Central Park.
• Steele County Free Fair, August 14-19, Owatonna, there's no way to better put a wrap on summer than with the people-watching, fair-food-eating and 4-H project admiring that you get during the annual exhibition.