What comes to life once a year, lives for 11 days and has over 2 million eyes? The Iowa State Fair!
The Iowa State Fair is an 11-day celebration where over 1 million people visit each summer to eat, see livestock, take in shows of all kinds, eat something on a stick, see the famous butter cow, ride the midway rides, eat something fried, enter contests, buy campers and hot tubs, eat something else fried and absorb a small piece of what Iowa has to offer.
The internationally-acclaimed Iowa State Fair is the single largest event in the state of Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. The Iowa State Fair, the inspiration for the original novel State Fair by Iowan Phil Stong, three motion pictures and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway musical, is without a doubt the country’s most famous state fair.
National media frequently ranks the Iowa State Fair as one of the top events in the country. USA Weekend named the event the #2 choice for summer fun in America, topping New York City’s Times Square, Cedar Point Amusement Park Resort in Ohio and Disneyland in California. Midwest Living magazine named the Fair one of the “Top 30 Things Every Midwesterner Should Experience.” The Fair is also the only fair listed in The New York Times best-selling travel book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, and the subsequent travel book, 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. and Canada Before you Die.
Who knew something that most of us Iowans go to annually is so famous? I know several people that have not missed a fair in over 20+ years. I know when I was a kid, we would go almost every year. As soon as we got to the fair my parents would head toward the first place we could get a free bag to hold our potential fortune of free stuff. There seemed like there wasn’t enough hours in the day when at the fair to do all our favorite things from the Giant Slide, Ye Old Mill, Sky Glider, Butter Cow and of course the Varied Industries building where all the goodies were.
We would leave that day with a patch handle bag FULL of pencils, flyswatters, magnets, coloring books, posters, hats, necklaces, buttons and all kinds of stuff from businesses we had never heard of. My parents would go through the bags and take out any item they thought they could use around the house.
Today, as I take my boys to the state fair, the same holds true. They can’t wait to bring home all the free products. I, of course, now have a different perspective being in the industry but what I find fun is to watch their excitement and those around me receiving our beloved promotional products. I like to sit on the bench and watch people’s reactions – it rejuvenates me to see the kids and adults alike excited about the free handouts.
What does the Iowa State Fair, or any state fair, do for the promotional products industry? Just take a day and walk around to see the crowds looking for their own freebies. The fair is a chance for cities, entertainment, destinations, organizations, businesses, colleges, non-profit groups, churches, schools and clubs to advertise, show off their programs, try to attain a larger customer base, and be seen by literally thousands of consumers.
Promotional products are to be had by the thousands at any state fair. It’s a place to see a huge variety of products and endless ideas of branded promotions whether it be T-shirts, hand-fans, yardsticks, cups, backpacks, temporary tattoos, pencils, water bottles, silicone bracelets, bandannas, totes and hats.
Have you attended the Iowa State Fair? What was one of your favorite products or food? As this year’s theme states – Nothing Compares to my STATE FAIR!
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