Photo: Iowa State Fair
(Des Moines, IA) -- The just-concluded 2024 Iowa State fair was one for the record books, pulling in 1,182,682 visitors. That surpasses the 2019 total by about 12-thousand. Nearly 120-thousand went people thru the gates on Sunday, August 18th, the final day of the fair. The first Saturday broke the all-time single day attendance record. August 11th and the 13th were also record breaking days.
State Fair Manager Jeremy Parsons says there's still some tear-down activity at the fair, and within weeks, the theme for the 2025 State Fair will be announced. He notes there are multiple projects approved for the off-season, including work on the Ag building roof and additional repairs to the barns.
There were eight records in the 4-H and FFA Sale of Champions. The all-time record for all species, was the Grand Champion 4-H Market Steer, which sold for $175-thousand dollars. Congrats to Mason Shalla of Riverside, Iowa.