UPDATE: Iowa State Fair Shatters All-Time Attendance Record

UPDATE 8/25/2026: 

It's officially a record year for the Iowa State Fair!

The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa State Fair topped its overall attendance record by more than 36,000 people! The official numbers released on Monday put the 2026 fair attendance at 1,218,324 people, breaking the previous record set in 2024.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Iowa State Fair has officially wrapped up for another year. While final attendance figures will be announced later this week, the fair did set one all-time record over the weekend, thanks in part to some amazing Iowa weather!

Saturday Was a Record Day at the Iowa State Fair! 

The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa State Fair not only set an attendance record on Saturday for day 10 of the 11-day fair, but it also set an all-time single-day attendance record! Saturday saw 130,654 people enjoy the state fair in Des Moines! The previous all-time record was 128,732, set in 2024, according to the Register.

Will This Year's Fair Set a New Total Attendance Record?

It appears that this year's fair will be the first with total attendance exceeding 1.2 million people. The Register reports that after Saturday's record day, the 2026 total sat at 1,114,985. That is just over 67,000 short of breaking the fair record for total attendance set in 2024. This year's average daily attendance has been over 111,000.

This year's Iowa State Fair now holds four daily attendance records as well as the all-time daily record. Expect at least one more record to fall!

Want to keep up to date with the latest in local and music news? Download our app! It's completely free, and not only will you be the first to know about breaking news, but we'll also keep you updated on concerts and other events coming to the area. You'll also have exclusive opportunities to win tickets. What are you waiting for? Get the free app today.