Highlights
The Iowa State Fair annually attracts a million visitors - more than any other single event in Iowa - and is one of the oldest agricultural and industrial expositions in the nation. The development of the Fair, first held in Fairfield, Iowa, in 1854, is a series of historic comparisons. It has grown from a six-acre tract of land to a more than 400-acre Fairgrounds (including 160 acres of rolling green campgrounds); from a first Fair attendance of 10,000 to more than 1,053,000; from a three-day event to an eleven-day spectacular; from a local livestock show to one of the world's largest livestock exhibitions, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars in premiums.
The Iowa State Fair is not generally supported by tax dollars. In fact, about 97% of all operating expenses are paid for from revenue generated by the Fair; special legislative appropriations are used for capital improvements and repair. The Fairgrounds are also used all year long as a versatile meeting and trade center, featuring such events as large trade and machinery shows, arts and crafts shows, sales, sporting events, auto races, concerts, civic and social gatherings and a wide variety of other activities.
Fair Dates
- 2012: August 9-19
- 2013: August 8-18
- 2014: August 7-17
Attendance
- 2002: 1,008,000
- 2003: 1,012,000
- 2004: 1,054,000
- 2005: 1,005,000
- 2006: 1,013,000
- 2007: 1,003,000
- 2008: 1,109,150
- 2009: 1,006,501
- 2010: 967,381
- 2011: 1,080,959
