Another Year Done: How Did the Iowa State Fair Do in 2021?

Another year of the Iowa State Fair has come to an end. On the surface, it appears it was a huge success. Great Grandstand acts, good food, few major issues. Underneath the entire event was the could of COVID. As numbers in the U.S., Iowa certainly included, have soared as the delta variant runs ramped, COVID-19 was on many folks' minds this fair season.

Did the fair break any records? Not likely

While COVID is very likely the reason, according to a Radio Iowa report, fair officials do not think the 2021 edition of the Iowa State Fair broke any attendance records. As of Saturday night, the second to last of the fair, a total of 994,000 visitors had been counted. That is roughly 70,000 fewer than the 2019 state fair drew to that point. However, it should also be noted the 2019 state fair drew an attendance record-breaking 1.1 million visitors.

Despite the likely lack of record-breaking attendance, state fair officials are, according to the Radio Iowa report, officials are quite confident the event still drew more than one million people this year despite the COVID pandemic.

One record broken: a Grandstand concert

One record fair officials are thrilled to see broken, the Des Moines Register reports country music superstar Chris Stapelton's drew a whopping 17,320 fans. This breaks the previous record set by Iowa hard rockers Slipknot who brought in 17,032 people in 2019. Chris has been a household name for country music fans for over 5 years and was also scheduled for the 2020 edition which was scrapped due to the pandemic.

The 2022 edition of the Iowa State Fair will run from August 11-21.