I had to double-check to make sure I was seeing this right. In a national voting competition for the best state fair, the Iowa State Fair is somehow beating the Minnesota State Fair in the polls.
A Surprising Leaderboard
USA Today is holding its annual Reader’s Choice Awards, asking the public to vote for the best state fair in the country. When I looked at the current leaderboard, I was genuinely shocked.
Not only is the Minnesota State Fair not in the top spot, it’s currently locked in a three-way battle with two rival state fairs. And with just over two weeks of voting left, every vote matters.
Minnesota Slips to Second
At the moment, the Wisconsin State Fair is in third place, the Minnesota State Fair is sitting in second, and—believe it or not—the Iowa State Fair is in first. Yes, the Iowa State Fair.
But Let’s Talk Numbers
To be fair, the Iowa State Fair does have some solid stats. It ranks sixth in the nation for total attendance and third for number of daily visitors. But even with those numbers, it doesn’t come close to what the Minnesota State Fair brings in.
Known as “The Great Minnesota Get-Together,” our state fair ranks second in total attendance, just behind Texas, which has the advantage of running for 24 days. More impressively, Minnesota ranks first for average daily attendance. In 2019, the fair set a new overall attendance record with 2.1 million visitors. Last year alone, five new daily records were broken…