Black Lives Matter St. Paul is planning a march and rally during the Minnesota State Fair, the group announced Thursday.

The event, called #BlackFair by the organizers, starts at 11 a.m. Aug. 29 in Hamline Park in St. Paul. The protesters will proceed up Snelling Avenue to the fairgrounds in Falcon Heights.

The intent is to disrupt the State Fair on its first weekend, Black Lives Matter organizer Rashad Turner said.

“The first Saturday of the Fair is one of their money-making days. We just hope to slow that down and continue to bring attention to the injustices that plague our community,” he said.

In a statement, the group said the State Fair has a history of denying people of color the opportunity to be vendors.

“When I look around the Fair, I don’t see an equitable amount of businesses owned by people of color,” Turner said. “Yet, if you look at what people call the ‘help,’ you see plenty of people of color picking up trash and taking tickets, etc., but very few black-owned businesses as vendors.”

However, State Fair general manager Jerry Hammer disagreed with Turner’s assessment.

“The truth is, there’s all kinds of exhibitors of every ethnicity involved at the State Fair. Everybody’s there,” Hammer said Thursday night.

“Our process for selecting commercial exhibits is based on products and services and institutions that would offer something new and contribute something to the Fair. … And that selection process has nothing to do with ethnicity. And you don’t know who owns a booth by who’s working in it.”

Hammer added that he would be willing to work to get Black Lives Matter their own booth if they approached him.

“I guarantee them that if they wanted exhibit space at the Fair, they could have it. We would find them space, which would be a far more effective way of communicating — they’d reach a much wider audience that way. We are a forum for ideas; that’s what the Fair is about.”

Turner said the rally will also focus on actions of the St. Paul Police Department.

One of the speakers at the rally will be the aunt of Marcus Golden, who was fatally shot by St. Paul police in January. In May, a grand jury cleared two officers, who fired their guns when Golden drove at them at high speed, according to investigators.

“We want to bring attention to the injustices — social, but also economic injustices — which is sort of the beginning of the social injustice … they all kind of go hand in hand,” Turner said.

Black Lives Matter, formed after a nearly all-white Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, has evolved to highlight perceived criminal and social justice disparities in the United States. In the Twin Cities, the group has staged a number of protest marches and events, including at the Mall of America.

The 12-day State Fair begins Aug. 27 and concludes on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

Tad Vezner contributed to this report. Katie Kather can be reached at 651-228-5006. Follow her at twitter.com/ktkather.