Photo by John Haynes
There are certain sights that immediately say Minnesota State Fair: the Grandstand rising above the fairgrounds, buckets overflowing with cookies, the SkyGlider drifting overhead, and that unmistakable yellow-and-green Giant Slide.
Since arriving at the Minnesota State Fair in 1969, the Giant Slide has become one of the Great Minnesota Get-Together’s most enduring traditions. Standing 50 feet high and stretching 175 feet long, with five rolling peaks and valleys, it offers a simple proposition: Climb 100 steps, grab a mat, sit down, and let gravity do the rest.
For generations of Minnesotans, that trip down the slide has become a rite of summer. Kids who once raced their siblings to the bottom now return with children—and grandchildren—of their own. But behind one of the Fair’s most recognizable attractions is another tradition entirely: a family business that began more than 60 years ago in California.
From California to Minnesota
The Giant Slide story starts with Fred and Beverley Pittroff. Fred entered the amusement business as a teenager in 1953, working at a Hot Dog on a Stick concession at California’s Balboa Fun Zone. More than a decade later, in 1965, Fred and Beverley spotted a small slide at an amusement park in Santa Cruz and saw the potential for something bigger. They hired an architect and developed their own version using scaffolding borrowed through a friend in the bleacher business.
Courtesy of Stacey Pittroff-Barona
The first Giant Slide debuted at California’s Orange Show in 1966. Fred continued refining the concept, and after attending a parks and fairs convention in Chicago in 1967, he sold 10 slides from the trade show floor. Over the next two decades, the Pittroffs would build 42 Giant Slides for fairs, festivals, and amusement operators across the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Minnesota got its Giant Slide in 1969. And it stuck.
Growing Up on the Giant Slide
For Fred and Beverley’s daughter, Stacey, the family business was simply part of growing up. As a child, she helped take tickets, trimmed fringe on the riding sacks, cleaned and waxed the slide, and pitched in wherever she was needed. By 14, she was ready for more responsibility, and Fred put her in charge of a Giant Slide at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1988.
Eventually, the Minnesota State Fair slide would change her life in another way. In 1993, Stacey was working at the Giant Slide when she met Robert Barona, who was working at a hamburger concession next door. They began dating, Robert joined the family slide operation, and three years later, they decided to get married.
There was perhaps only one logical venue. On opening day of the 1996 Minnesota State Fair, Stacey and Robert climbed those familiar 100 steps—this time accompanied by their wedding party—and exchanged vows at the top of the Giant Slide. More than 5,000 fairgoers watched from below before the newlyweds quite literally slid into married life. Thirty years later, it’s hard to imagine a more fitting beginning for a marriage that would remain intertwined with the attraction.
Courtesy of Stacey Pittroff-Barona
The Next Generation
Today, Robert and Stacey operate the family business alongside their daughters, Isabella and Anibella, making the Giant Slide a three-generation operation. Both daughters were introduced to the business almost from birth. Isabella took her first trip down a Giant Slide at just 10 days old while the family was working at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show in Australia. Anibella followed with her first ride at 4 months old. Like their mother, both began helping with slide operations while they were still preschoolers.
Today, three generations of the family own and operate Giant Slides at the Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, and North Georgia state fairs. And Stacey says Isabella and Anibella will “definitely take over the slide business,” positioning yet another generation to carry the tradition forward.
Courtesy of Stacey Pittroff-Barona
More Than a Ride
Part of the Giant Slide’s staying power may be its simplicity. There are no screens or elaborate special effects. The experience today is fundamentally the same one fairgoers discovered decades ago: the long climb, the anticipation at the top, and the rush of sailing over those familiar humps toward the bottom.
The attraction has earned recognition for more than nostalgia, too. In 2004, the Giant Slide was named to the Outdoor Amusement Business Association’s Circle of Excellence for quality and safety, according to the family’s historical timeline.
But awards and statistics don’t fully explain why the Giant Slide matters. Its real history is measured in memories: the kid brave enough to ride alone for the first time, siblings racing toward the bottom, parents snapping photos from below, and adults returning decades later to climb those same 100 steps with their own children.
The Pittroff-Barona family has spent generations building and operating Giant Slides around the world. In Minnesota, they created something more difficult to manufacture: a tradition. And as long as that giant yellow slide continues rising above the fairgrounds each August, generations of Minnesotans will keep climbing to the top—and sliding right back into summer.
