Monument Madness | Minnesota Unknown 1

Monument Madness 2026

Minnesota has no shortage of quirky monuments, statues, and roadside oddities. Our state is home to giant statues of Vikings, Voyageurs, numerous Paul Bunyans and Blue Oxen, giant animal sculptures of all kinds, various “World’s Largest”s (e.g. Hockey Stick, Snowman, Boot, Ball of Twine…), ever so many giant fish, and much, much more. But which of these kitschy monuments is truly the best in the state? That’s what YOU, the people, get to decide!

We’re excited to announce Monument Madness 2026, a single-elimination tournament to decide which is the best roadside monument in the great state of Minnesota.

Based on your nominations, we began this with the following “March Madness”-style bracket of sixteen monuments:

Round One concluded on March 22nd. The winners and scores were:

Match 1: Wally the Walleye in Garrison, beat the Big Fish Supper Club in Beana, 454 to 339.

Match 2: Coming out of Blue Earth, MN, the Jolly Green Giant came in with a resounding win over the Iron Man Memorial in Chisholm, final score of 849 to 139.

Match 3: Hermann the German of New Ulm beats Big Ole the Viking of Alexandria, 417 to 341.

Match 4: In a surprisingly close match, “the Calling” loon sculpture from Saint Paul wins an admirable 330 votes, but not enough to beat Minneapolis’s “Spoonbridge & Cherry,” which gained 397 votes.

Match 5: The World’s Biggest Ball of Twine rolled by one person in Darwin beats the World’s Largest Hockey stick in Eveleth, 471 to 260.

Match 6: Lucette Diana Kensack, Sweetheart of Paul Bunyan in Hackensack beats the Saint Urho Statue in Menahga, 464 to 236.

Match 7: In this game of dueling voyageurs, Big Vic or Ranier wins over Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur in Two Harbors, 413 to 277.

Match 8: the original Paul and Babe the Blue Ox statues in Bemidji resoundingly defeated the World’s Largest Paul Bunyan in Akeley, 607 to 118.

Round Two ended on March 28th. The winners and scores were:

Match #9: The Jolly Green Giant (Blue Earth) beat Wally the Walleye (Garrison), 835 to 144.

Match #10: Hermann the German (New Ulm) beat Spoonbridge and Cherry (Minneapolis), 429 to 266.

Match #11: The World’s Largest Ball of Twine Made By One Person (Darwin) beat Lucette Diana Kensack, Paul Bunyan’s Sweetheart (Hackensack) 360 to 205.

Match #12: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (Bemidji) beat Big Vic the Voyageur (Ranier), 514 to 77.

Round Three (the Final Four!) concluded on April 2nd, with these results:

Match #13: The Jolly Green Giant (Blue Earth) beat Hermann the German (New Ulm), 1,539 to 376.

Match #14: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox (Bemidji) beat The World's Largest Ball of Twin Made By One Person (Darwin), 958 to 325.

We are now into the Final Championship Match!

You can vote for your favorite in each match by dropping a comment on our Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok posts.

Or, if you prefer, you can fill out this form to cast your votes.

The final winner will be announced April 6th.

May the best Minnesota Monument win!