The Iowa State Fair starts Thursday and, while fair food is a big draw for many, the fair will again allow visitors to bring in drinks and snacks in soft-sided coolers. That policy was in effect for last year’s fair, too, and Iowa State Fair CEO Jeremy Parsons says it was the right thing to do.
Parsons says the state fair vendors who sell food and beverages did not report a decline in sales last year either.
The Common Sense Institute has estimated the more than one-point-one MILLION people who attended the 2025 Iowa State Fair spent 85 MILLION dollars on the fairgrounds. That was a more than one percent increase from the previous year. Nearly 5,000 people work at the fair during its 11-day run.
