Iowa State Fair nears attendance record as Friday sets new Day 9 mark
There's little doubt left that the 2026 Iowa State Fair will set an all-time attendance record.
The latest attendance report, for Friday, Aug. 21, showed 114,256 people passed through the gates ― a new record for Day 9 of the 11-day fair. That leaves the fair 198,352 short of the record total attendance of 1,182,682, set in 2024.
If the fair on its final Saturday and Sunday draws only the average daily attendance it has had on the first nine days ― 109,370 ― it will exceed the 2024 record by 20,829, pushing attendance past 1.2 million.
There's no reason to think the Iowa State Fair this Saturday and Sunday won't close out its 11-day Aug. 13-23 run with some of its biggest crowds. Unlike 2025, when the final Saturday and Sunday of the fair were among the hottest days of the year and attendance lagged, the weather on Saturday, Day 10, this year and the outlook for Sunday, Day 11, are about as fair-friendly as it gets in an Iowa August.
Saturday has been sunny, with a high of 84, and Sunday's high is forecast to be an even more moderate 81. The only potential for rain comes early Monday, as the vendors and exhibitors pack up and head home.
Adding to the likelihood of a record: This year's fair has seen all-time highs for daily attendance on three days so far. Joining Day 9, Friday, attendance Sunday, Aug. 16, broke the record for Day 4 of the fair, at 123,140. And Day 5, Monday, Aug. 17, also was a record for the day at 111,159.
The official number for Saturday is due Sunday, and the final attendance report, with the 2026 total, will come Monday.
Since the cancellation of the fair in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has bounced back with four fairs that ranked among the 10 best-attended:
The fair in 2021 fell just shy of the top 10, ranking 11th.
Mary Beth Zelle of Waverly holds stalks of corn during FFA farm crop judging on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Red heads back to his pen after the Big Boar contest at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Red won second place in the competition at 1,240 pounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)From left: Noah Stepp and Aubrey Carroll share an order of mini doughnuts on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Bandit heads to his holding pen after being weighed in this year's Big Boar contest at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Ron Fodor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, takes a photo with Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)FFA Judges Clark Adam and Lucas Roberts judge ears of corn on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Fairgoers arrive for the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Bo Plants, 13, of Montazuma, carries a large stuffed bear he won playing a ring toss game at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Tysen Taylor of Lincoln, Nebraska, holds his 2-year-old son Ryker up to show him snakes at the Snakes Alive animal exhibit at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Evie Graham, 2, steps in a puddle at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, in Des Moines. Rainy conditions persisted on and off throughout the day. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Connor Birdsong falls into a pool of water, losing a log rolling competition to Kian Glor during the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Kian Glor raises his arms in the air after winning a log rolling competition during the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Tim Connor of Aubrey, Texas, reacts to the winning pumpkin’s weigh-in on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Pumpkins are placed on the scale during the big pumpkin weigh-in on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Participants in the Iowa State Fair PRCA Pro Rodeo compete on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 3rd congressional district Sarah Trone Garriott volunteers at the West Des Moines Methodist Church food stand on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks visits the Iowa Pork Producers tent at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Fairgoers line up for food while carrying umbrellas and wearing rain jackets on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Fairgoers look at the map for the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Dalton Stults, left, and Max Johnson of Beattie’s Watermelon Stand prepare watermelon for customers on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Dirty Ernie participates in the 2026 Big Boar contest at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Anne Ling from West Des Moines gives a final call after winning the Ladies Chicken Calling Contest on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, at Pioneer Hall in Des Moines. (Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune)The Devine Dancers group from Des Moines performs on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune)Taner Erwine shows off his shirt on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Henry Crimmins, 8, left, arm wrestles Theo Becker, 7, at the Iowa Craft Beer Tent at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Register)Jim Fisher holds his ram after winning the Big Ram contest on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026. Big Bad Joe broke an Iowa State Fair record and may set a Guinness World Record. (Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune)TJ Goecke from State Center brings his bull Big E to the stage after winning the Super Bull contest on the first day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 13, 2026, in Des Moines. (Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune)People walk along the Grand Concourse on the second day of the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Participants in the Iowa State Fair PRCA Pro Rodeo compete on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Bondurant Farrar FFA student Jocelyn Goodrich picks produce while tending to The Garden at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)LaTona and Memphis Lord watch as their pumpkin is weighed during the big pumpkin contest on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)Children take a photo with a pumpkin during the big pumpkin weigh-in on Aug. 14, 2026, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. (Cody Scanlan/The Register)
Others in the top 10 are 2019 (2), 2018 (5), 2017 (6), 2015 (8), 2008 (9) and 2012 (10).
We'd like to say, as the fair motto goes, "Nothing compares." But according to Blue Ribbon Group, the Minnesota State Fair has taken the top spot in average daily attendance for the past three years. It has a leg up because its final weekend includes a third day, the Labor Day holiday.
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at [email protected] or 515-284-8132.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State Fair nears attendance record as Friday sets new Day 9 mark
