There’s only one place where you can find; a cow,Michael Jackson and Shawn Johnson carved out of  butter. Only one place where you can find over 50 different food items on a stick. Only one place where you can find national musical acts and only one place where you can find a Charmin sponsored bathroom. That place, is the Iowa State Fair, and it’s almost here.

This year’s fair kicks off on August 11th and runs until the 21st.

As always, there’s something new and exciting  added to the state fair and we’ve decided to talk about a few of them.

One  improvement the state fair has made this year is the ability to print off your advance purchase tickets from home. When you buy your tickets from the Iowa State Fair website, you can simply print them off and bring them to the gate. Plus, all advance ticket purchases get you half-off DART’s park and ride system for the fair.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the butter cow. To celebrate this the fair released 100 tribute cows to various organizations in Iowa. The organizations were able to to decorate and paint the cows, which will be on display throughout the fair.

For most visitors, the highlight of the fair is the food! This year is no exception, some of the new additions to the state fair menu include:fried butter on a stick, peanut butter and jelly on a stick and red velvet funnel cake… on a stick. Of course, the state fair staples like cheese curds,turkey legs and cookie cups will still be available.

For the beer enthusiasts out there, the state fair now has an Iowa Craft Beer tent. The tent will feature 16 Iowa breweries with 36 beers on tap, including Iowa made root beer.

If you’re looking to be part of another record (remember the year they did the largest group of people eating corn dogs?) you have another chance. This year, the fair wants to set a record for the most people participating in a “stop,drop and roll” drill. This will be going on on the 21st at 2pm.

Once again, the fair has also provided a great lineup of musical acts, both in the grandstand and on the free stages.

Def Leppard, Train & Maroon 5, Janet Jackson, and Lynard Skynard with the Doobie Brothers are just some of the grandstand acts that still have tickets available.

This year’s free entertainers include; The Nadas, Leslie Hall, Ying Yang Twins, and Brother Trucker, just to name a few.

Of course the fair still has all its usual attractions that we know and love; Varied Industries Building, giant hogs, giant bulls, the giant slide and people watching galore.

So, as you trek out to Pleasant Hill for the fair, make sure you visit your favorites, but also check out some of the new things going on!

(by Jeanie Jones)

The Iowa State Fair – where country comes to town! The ISF is magical and rivals any people watching in New York or LA.  With 100,000 of the Midwest’s finest coming out each day there is no lack of free entertainment waiting behind these gates. I am honored to be one of the first on this blog to provide a review of the famed Iowa State Fair, where so many dreams come true every year in August.

Livestock judging is a major part of the ISF where Iowans bring their prized cows, pigs, goats and horses to be judged each year, and only one proud farmer will take home the Blue Ribbon. Other must sees on my list include the Budweiser Clydesdales, the award winning pies, floral arrangements, and science projects.

No trip to the fair would be complete without paying homage to Norma “Duffy” Lyon’s 40-plus years sculpting the world-famous Butter Cow. No kidding… its a life-sized cow made of butter.

But wait…there’s more! Free entertainment is abundant at the various stages throughout the fairgrounds including the Anderson Erickson Dairy stage, the Fun Forrest stage, to the more popular Bill Riley stage, where the venue is anywhere from puppet shows to famous Iowa artists and local talent.  Then there’s the Grandstand where you can buy tickets to see tractor pulls by day and internationally famous bands by night, such as Kelly Clarkson, Brooks & Dunn, and Journey.

Enjoy some of the culinary delights from our many “roach coaches” filled with fryers and fountains, including corn dogs, pork chop on-a-stick, turkey drumsticks, fresh squeezed lemonade, smoked meat sandwiches, pulled taffy, root beer and funnel cakes.

If you’re like me and LOVE Carneys – you will adore the Iowa State Fair Midway. You buy tickets and get access to rides such as the tea-cups and crazy ratty contraptions that spin in unnatural ways nearly sending you to your death. All in all the ISF is 11 fun filled days of “country coming to town” each year! This is a must attend event for anyone living in Iowa or those just passing through at fair-time.

@Jeanie_Jones