Iowa State Fair: Country Comes to Town

More than 150 years old and still going strong, the Iowa State Fair is an American institution, one that was recently named by author Patricia Schultz as one of the1000 Places to See Before You Die. Once an opportunity for country folk to come to town and to experience the community of fellow farmers, today the fair attracts over one million attendees from urban and suburban locales longing for a taste of real America. The first history of the Iowa State Fair in nearly half a century, Iowa State Fair examines this extraordinary confluence of cows and corn dogs, Midwestern culture and classic Americana.

Iowa State Fair explores the fun of the fair, from the fairytale State Fair of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical to Norma Duffield Lyon’s two-thousand-pound butter sculpture of The Last Supper. Author Thomas Leslie brings the fair to life, recounting its fascinating background, why today it is more popular than ever, and what it holds for the future. Like the fair itself, this book celebrates the state’s agricultural heritage and provides a heartwarming portrait of an event that is, quite literally, as American as apple pie.