Sky Glider at Iowa State Fair. (RI photo)
Iowa State Fair Attendance topped one million people (1,094,480) in its return after being canceled by COVID in 2020. Fair spokesperson Mindy Williamson says it was a good comeback.
“We didn’t know what to expect in 2021 after not having a fair in 2020, so all of our expectations were just blown away with all of the people who came out to the fair this year,” Williamson says. The attendance for the 11-day run was about 76-thousand below the 2019 attendance record of more than 1.1 million. She says the ongoing COVID concerns were a part of that.
“We expected that some people may be waiting until 2022 and that’s okay. We had plenty of space to spread out outdoors, and we saw people wearing their masks outdoors and indoors if they felt more comfortable doing that,” Williamson says. “So, we were happy that people were comfortable either way.”
Williamson says the weather cooperated and let them finish strong on the final Saturday and Sunday. “We had a couple of warm days to start the fair, and then we had beautiful weather for the most part throughout the fair. We had a tiny bit of rain here at the fairgrounds overnight one evening — and other than that — it was perfect for the fair,” according to Williamson. Williamson was taking down some of the 2021 signs today as they continue planning for next year.
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[dd0824williamson4] :14 :stops around here”
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(as said)”In the marketing department here we’ve been working on the 2022 theme and graphics staring in May, so we have that well underway — and it never stops around here,” she says. The 2022 Iowa State Fair will run from August 11th through the 22nd.