The internationally acclaimed Iowa State Fair is the single largest event in the state of Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. The first Iowa State Fair was held in Fairfield, a southeast Iowa city, in October of 1854.
Today, the Iowa State Fair, now with permanent grounds in Des Moines, attracts more than a million people from all over the world annually. The event was the inspiration for the original novel “State Fair” as well as at least three motion pictures and a Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical. Midwest Living magazine named the Fair one of the “Top 30 Things Every Midwesterner Should Experience,” and it has been included in the New York Times best-selling travel book 1000 Places to See Before You Die.