Good weather leads to big attendance at the Iowa State Fair

With unseasonably cooler weather and only a smattering of raindrops over the 11-day run of the 2004 Iowa State Fair, attendance at the event likely pushed past the one million mark. State Fair spokeswoman Kathie Swift says it’s “probably going to be a record-breaking fair.” She says a combination of factors pushed attendance high. Swift says not only the weather, but the appeal of the 150th anniversary of the Fair and a line-up of events that included sharks and sheep and singers. Swift says the final count on attendance won’t be completed for a couple of months as managers re-count unsold tickets and other attendance data. Swift says preparations have begun for next year’s State Fair, scheduled to begin August 11th and conclude August 21st. The 14 champion and reserve champion animals shown by 4-Hers and F-F-A members at this year’s Iowa State Fair sold for a record 190-thousand-500 dollars in an auction this weekend. The highest-priced animal was the grand champion steer, shown by 4-Her Dan Faber of Sioux Center. The animal sold for 31-thousand-500 dollars. And over five-thousand copies of a version of Monopoly with Fairgrounds real estate instead of properties on a regular Monopoly board were sold during the 2004 Fair — for 25 dollars each. The proceeds from game sales will go toward improvements on the Fairgrounds.