>> Time to get in the fair spirit.

The Iowa State Fair starts in less than six weeks.

We'll talk about what's new and exciting with fair CEO Jeremy Parsons on this edition of Iowa Press >> Funding for Iowa Press was provided by friends.

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This is the.

Friday, July 3rd edition of Iowa Press.

Here is Kay Henderson.

>> The very first Iowa State Fair was held in Fairfield in 1854.

The fair moved to Des Moines in 1886.

In 1987, the 454 acre complex that is the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and in August, the 2026 Iowa State Fair will commence.

What sort of history will be made?

Our guest today is here to to brief us on that.

Jeremy Parsons is CEO and manager of the Iowa State Fair.

He worked as a seasonal employee at the fair.

In his youth, he spent more than a decade managing the Clay County Fair in Spencer before joining the Iowa State Fair in 2023.

Welcome back to Iowa Press.

>> Hey, it's good to be here and talk all things fair.

>> Exactly.

Joining our conversation is Linh Ta.

She's a reporter for Axios Des Moines.

>> It's America's 250th birthday.

What are you doing at the Iowa State Fair this year to make it special?

>> You know, I tell a lot of people, I think this year you're going to see a fair within a fair.

And what we mean by that is it's all your Iowa State Fair favorites, all those traditional things.

But at the same time, we've just added an extra layer, really focusing on America.

250 and so, for example, up by Pioneer Hall, you're going to see a display of 250 American flags.

Each flag representing a different year of our country.

And so you've got exhibits like that.

You've got a special exhibit that the fair is working on with the State Historical Society and Living History farms kind of on Iowa's role in the American Revolution, which may sound odd because we weren't a state, but you'll have to come find out about that.

But just a lot of extra red, white and blue all over the grounds.

>> Can we expect any red, white, and blue food?

>> Definitely.

Our new food competition, of course, is coming up next week, and one of the categories this year is best red, white and blue food, but also competitions like best Red, white and Blue vegetables in the AG building.

>> So what about I understand there's a display to be put up that will show fairgoers what Iowa looked like in 1776.

>> That's part of that exhibit that I mentioned.

That really is a combination of several agencies getting together.

You know, when you think about it, obviously, Iowa was not the site of.

>> Prairie grass.

>> Prairie grass.

Yeah, we were we were not battlefield site, but yet also some ties to the revolution.

Today, when you really look at Iowa, so many counties and cities are named after Revolutionary War heroes that people may not be expecting.

And so we hope to educate you on that in that exhibit.

That will be underneath the grandstand this year at the fair, kind of there on the Grand Concourse.

>> Will there be a quiz?

>> There will be a quiz as well.

There'll be lots of questions about America.

You'll be able to answer and really a lot of fun, interactive components that we hope Iowans will enjoy to come to the fair not only to have a good time, but also an educational time.

>> Last fall, you were in Washington, D.C.

at the Smithsonian and the Smithsonian curated an exhibit where they had items and artifacts from state fairs around the country, and sort of the center of that was the butter cow in in a glass case with lovely lighting.

And when you came back, you said, we have to up our game in terms of exhibits, display and lighting.

What might we see at the fair as a result of your experience?

>> Yeah.

You know, when you're at the Smithsonian and seeing the beautiful quilts and the butter cow and canned goods in like museum quality lighting and display fixtures, you think, wow, maybe we could do something different than paper plates.

And so what we're doing this year, though, is kind of storing and cataloging all those ideas as we plan for America.

250 because coming down the road rapidly in 2029 is a huge celebration of our own.

That will be the 175th anniversary of the Iowa State Fair.

And so stay tuned for some of those changes to come down the road.

But yeah, seeing a butter cow in a in the round and full glass, you know, museum quality lighting with benches around it for you to sit and stare and ponder at Sarah Pratt's great work.

Some, some things we need to think about for sure.

>> You were in Washington, D.C.

A few days ago for the State Fair exhibition.

If Iowans are watching this, they're probably not in D.C.

What are they missing at the Iowa exhibit on that exhibit, the.

The mall?

>> Yeah, the great American State Fair, of course, is going through July 10th.

And so every state has a pavilion there.

And Iowa is no different.

And so our exhibit there is called Shine on Iowa.

And it's really just an overview of our state.

And so if you don't make it to D.C.

For the great American State Fair, you'll.

You you'll be able to see it at the Iowa State Fair.

So it will be the centerpiece exhibit in the agriculture building.

So right when you walk in, you'll be able to see what everyone across the country has been seeing out there >> Across the fairgrounds.

You've been working on improving infrastructure, adding different amenities.

What are some of the new things that people can expect this year and into the future?

>> Well, you know, really two, two prongs to that question, really.

The first being we really continue the focus on what we call creature comforts.

At the Iowa State Fair.

I, I told someone the other day, I think my greatest accomplishment is fair CEO is that we own more benches and picnic tables and shade structures than we did when I first arrived.

So I feel like if you're going to come to the fair, you need to be comfortable.

And so we've renovated some restrooms to help toward that goal in the varied industries building and up in the campgrounds, we've added a new shaded seating area next to the cookie building.

So lots of just kind of those guest service things.

Also, a huge project going on right now is another entrance to the fair off of University Avenue, which will provide a third way for people to get into our north parking lots, which again, should get you in the parking lot quicker than getting you in the fair quicker.

So that that's a that's a key piece.

The other piece is really this multiyear project, which has been going on since 2023, and that's the renovation of our livestock barns.

And so when you come to the fair this year, fully restored, renovated horse barn, a $13 million two year project that really makes it a stunning facility for our equine exhibitors, whether they're Four-h, FFA or open class and also allowing us to use it throughout the rest of the year.

>> What are some of the other projects that you guys are looking at infrastructure wise for, for these next, you know, five or upcoming years?

>> Yeah, you know, as I mentioned, 2029 is a big year for us.

So, so some things we're looking forward to, obviously, we'll have the barn renovation project completed by then.

We just announced the basically the three year renovation of our swine barn, which will be the largest project in fair history as far as a restoration and renovation project.

And so that will be completed in time for the 28th fair.

But then our attention really is also turning to ag education.

Iowa is an agricultural state, but not everybody knows where their food comes from, even here in Iowa.

And so we will be expanding and constructing a new facility kind of on the north edge of the grounds, close to the little hands on the farm and the animal learning center, really to teach Iowans more about agriculture, particularly soil, water and crops.

Since the Animal Learning Center focuses more really on livestock production.

>> and security is a major part of operations at the Iowa State Fair, especially as you guys keep breaking different attendance records.

Can you talk a little bit about, you know, what may be new this year in terms of security?

And if you're using any unique technology like drones or different cameras?

>> Yeah, that's a great question.

You know, we feel very strongly about safety and security at the Iowa State Fair because we know as a family event, if you or your family, if you don't feel safe at the Iowa State Fair, you're not going to go.

And so we really want security to be top of our mind.

So it's not top of your mind.

And so specifically to what you asked, drones will be utilized again this year at the fair.

We started using that technology a couple years ago.

We'll also have magnetometers at the gates as well to check for weapons coming onto the fairgrounds.

Those are being expanded this year with a little different technology that hopefully will allow, again, allow you to get into the fair faster.

We had some times last year where those lines got really long.

Obviously, we want everybody to be safe and secure, but there's new technology that will allow us to move people through those gates faster >> Last year, you changed a policy and let people bring food into the fairgrounds.

When you evaluate how that went, what did you learn?

>> You know, we learned fairgoers really appreciated it.

I think more than anything, when you when you look at today's world, obviously affordability and things like the economy are top of mind.

You guys interview politicians all the time on this show.

I know that's something that you guys talk about and it's something we think about as well.

Again, we want all Iowans to feel welcome at the Iowa State Fair.

So affordability is key.

And so we've really held the line.

We've not increased admission at the fair since 2023.

The price to get into the fair.

And so we know we can provide a lot of things for you to do at the fair for free.

But obviously everybody wants to enjoy that fair food as well.

And so what we discovered last year, when we allowed people to bring in their own food and beverages, it really didn't affect anything at all.

Fairgoers still enjoyed their fair food, but I think they also enjoyed knowing that they could bring in some snacks or maybe some some bottled water of their own.

And so really, it was it was the right thing to do and still continues to be the right thing that when you come to the Iowa State Fair, outside of that gate admission, you could spend all day and really not spend another dime if you didn't want to.

>> So you didn't hear from vendors who said sales were down?

>> No, we did not hear any of that from vendors.

Again, I think obviously the vendors are there to to serve our fairgoers.

And also, you know, generate their own revenue and income.

And so, but at the same time, I think they understood that, you know, allowing more people to come to the fair.

You know, the saying of something is better than nothing.

You know, maybe there's that family that the fair is, is a stretch for them from an affordability standpoint, but they can maybe pack their own lunch, but then enjoy an ice cream cone or, or something like that down the road.

And so we're, we're excited to be able to offer that opportunity.

>> What are you seeing in food trends and how does the weather influence that.

>> That yeah.

Weather influences everything at the Iowa State Fair.

Obviously, if it's a really hot day, there's going to be lots of liquids flowing on the fairgrounds.

But if it's a cool morning, you know, everybody's going to sit down for breakfast.

And so really what we're seeing trends, it's kind of interesting.

You're seeing people, I think, really looking at more really, I think in general, people today are more sophisticated about their food.

You know what, what am I eating?

You know, natural, all those types of things.

And so I think you're seeing a wide variety of, of that at the fair.

You know, this year will be introducing bison burgers at the fair as a new food item, for example.

And so you're seeing some traditional things maybe with, with some twists, but at the same time, I think there's, there's those people that count calories all year long, except when they come to the fair.

And it's a one day cheat.

You know, I tell people the calories don't count because you can walk.

You're walking between the food stands.

You know, you're not just sitting there having it all brought to you.

So I think our vendors are usually pretty cognizant.

I think this year you'll see a lot of dirty sodas at the fair.

That seems to be a popular drink in today's world.

And so our food vendors always try to keep up to date on those, on those trends.

>> We talked a little bit about, you know, families concerns over affordability.

How does that influence attendance at the fair and what they do end up purchasing?

>> You know, really, when you look at the fair, it's kind of an interesting thing when you look at high gas prices, for example, historically in the fair industry, higher gas prices have been have been okay for the Iowa State Fair and other fairs because people don't travel as far for vacations.

It's more of a a staycation experience.

And so because of that, we always feel like we're pretty economy proofed, for lack of better words.

From that way.

I think though, when fairgoers come to the fair again, for many people it's a vacation.

And so they maybe budgeted for, for that type of experience.

And again, I think when you look at what we have planned this year at the Iowa State Fair, you pay that that gate admission, which if you purchase in advance, is only $11 for adults, but you purchase that advance admission, that's going to get you all day with livestock shows.

I mentioned the flag exhibit, the Special America 250 things, a lumberjack show.

I mean, so many things are crammed into that fairgrounds, you know, for projects that you can really spend a day and, and not spend an extra additional dime.

>> Yeah.

And kind of still on the topic of the economy a little bit.

Let's talk about the workforce.

You know, are there any challenges that you guys are facing with hiring people and are vendors facing any challenges with getting labor?

>> You know, when you look at the Iowa State Fair, you start with our our full time team of about 80 employees and this time of year, our payroll is up closer to 250.

And then we're going to bounce up to 1500 during the fair to really put the fair on.

And so for us this year, we're very fortunate to have a return rate.

Many people love working at the fair, and it becomes their summer job.

Maybe like me, they started back when they were in high school, you know, working at the Iowa State Fair.

Maybe it's a job they've picked up since they've retired.

But this year we created a new hiring center to kind of standardize and streamline that hiring process at the fair.

What we're also helpful for is that will give us some data down the road on really what our returning workforce looks like, since we have it all kind of consolidated in one place.

>> What was your job at the fair?

>> Well, I started as a 16 year old in the special events department, so that is a free entertainment side of the fair.

But over the years there, I edited press releases, working with Kathy Swift, who was a longtime marketing director who I know Kay knew well.

And I also was once Rosetta in the Iowa State Fair parade.

So I I've done a lot of different things at the Iowa State Fair.

>> And Rosetta is the.

>> Is the mascot.

Yes, yes.

The official ribbon mascot of the Iowa State Fair.

So I know what it's like in 100 degree heat to wear that costume, waving to two people at the Iowa State Fair parade route.

And it was an experience I did once, but I can say I did it at least.

>> Many Americans are doing something for the very first time.

They're buying World Cup tickets, and some of them are being the subject of fraud.

I mean, they aren't being able to get their tickets.

You have grandstand performances every night of the fair, and people are paying some top ticket, big dollar amounts for those performances.

What steps has the fair taken to help?

Perhaps hopefully reduce fraud?

>> Well, I think the first thing is if you ever get on a website and someone is charging you more than $125 for an Iowa State Fair grandstand ticket, you are not buying it from the Iowa State Fair.

You are purchasing it from a third party individual, whether that's a.

>> StubHub.

>> StubHub, or any of those types of groups.

So that's the main thing to know.

We hear that a lot, you know, well, I paid $400 for these tickets.

Well, we apologize, but you didn't buy them from us.

And therefore there's not a lot we can do.

But there are some things we have done.

One of those is what's called delayed delivery, which is pretty common in the event world, where if you buy a ticket today, for example, to an Iowa State Fair grandstand concert, you actually won't get that ticket emailed to you until 2 or 3 days before, because that that prevents obviously the chance for somebody to resell it because they physically don't have that ticket to give to you until right before.

And so that's one of the things we've done also, just a lot of updates with software technology.

Our ticketing partner Etix, you know, again, all these companies are on the cutting edge of trying to prevent that, that fraud.

And, and I guess the other thing I want to say too, is we often, you know, want to blame the scalpers.

You know, we think of these people in apartment buildings in New York City that are just, you know, making their living doing this.

And they may be your neighbors, you know, anybody, anybody can purchase tickets online and resell them.

And so sometimes, you know, that that's disappointing as well, where you're like, you know, if you weren't going to go to that show, you should have not purchased those tickets to let somebody else purchase them at the real rate instead of instead of the inflated rate.

But I guess that's also capitalism and free market at work.

>> So can you talk a little bit about the demographics of who's going to the Iowa State Fair?

And I'm curious if, you know, there's been any trends or changes over the years.

>> You know, we were able to do a lot of statistics, statistical analysis.

That's hard word to say.

I shouldn't say it on TV, I guess, but really of who's attending the fair through a lot of different survey opportunities.

And so we know the average fair goers are 38.6 year old female.

That's kind of the average.

The the attendance skews more on the female side.

But what we're really excited about is that number has come down, has it's become younger.

And so we're really excited about that.

We know the fair is a, a great place for grandparents to take their grandchildren and families go.

But we also know we need to hook those people at a young age.

And so we're really excited to see that that point of age kind of drop a little bit as our crowd becomes younger.

You know, we as as we know in the state of Iowa, the rural population remains flat or continues to decline.

Yet the population of the Des Moines metro area, the Golden Circle, continues to increase.

And so when we look at that from a fair perspective, while we are the Iowa State Fair, we know that roughly 65 to 70% of our attendees come from that golden circle.

And so as that population increases, if that percentage stays the same, then we have to forecast in the future of what does a larger Iowa State Fair look like?

You know, our all time attendance record was set a couple of years ago at 1.18 million.

If the population of the Des Moines metro continues to increase, if we continue to put on a quality event, a quality fair, what does a fair of 1.25 million people look like into the future?

And so those are some things we have to think about.

Part of the reason for the new entrance off of university, for example, just trying to be prepared, hopefully for larger crowds in the future.

>> Yeah.

>> Do you have to expand the fairgrounds?

>> You know, that's a great question.

We're pretty well landlocked, and I think there's a limit of what people are willing to walk and see in a day, you know?

So but there are some underutilized areas on the fairgrounds that I think we can we can develop.

One of our goals, really, the last couple of years is not expansion of the fairgrounds, but moving around what's happening.

If you've been to the Iowa State Fair, you know, for a few years, when the craft beer tent was moved down in the southwest corner by the four H building, you know, everyone thought what you know, that's that's out in the middle of nowhere.

And yet now we've filled it in with food vendors and free entertainment, and that's become a destination that has stretched people that way.

And then we've, we've done a lot of work up on the Hill, for example, into the campgrounds up by grandfather's barn of food and beverage establishment was placed up there same way it's stretching people out.

And so we think we've got lots of room for those extra people, but we're going to need to be more strategic in how we move them around.

>> I'm so curious because I had read somewhere, you know, nationally that Latino and Hispanic families had been increasing, increasingly going to different state fairs, county fairs, and have been making up a growing number of demographics.

I'm just curious if you guys are experiencing that as well.

At the Iowa State Fair.

>> We are experiencing experiencing that, seeing a lot of younger Latino families come and enjoy the fair.

And it's it's changed our programing as well.

The first Sunday of the fair, this will be the third year we've done the Charros performances, which are the beautiful horseback riding presentation drill teams, for lack of better words.

And so it really is, again, as we we want to be the fair for all Iowans.

I've said, you know, regardless of affordability, regardless of culture, we want to make sure everybody can come to the Iowa State Fair and have a good time.

Yeah.

>> You know, so we've talked about different changes to infrastructure, the amenities that you'll be doing, but how do you navigate between, you know, those hard core fair goers that love their traditions, but also making updates and modernizing things at the Iowa State Fair.

>> You really have just summarized the most difficult part of my job.

It's that balancing act of those people that don't want you to move anything.

You know, you keep.

I know where to go to get my corn dog and where to get my mop.

I know where to, where to sit to see this concert, as opposed to the person who says, if it's the same as last year, I'm not going to go back.

And so for us, it's really navigating that middle ground that taking those fair traditions, bolstering them in some cases, but maybe tweaking them a little bit as society evolves, but then also keeping that introduction, I would say 80/20 is a rough principle for us.

You know, 80% the same 20% new in some capacity.

And obviously we've been able to do it for almost 175 years.

So we'll keep working on that formula.

>> Well, speaking of something old, the cow chip throwing contest has been one of the attractive contests that people participate in.

But the records were set in the last century.

I'm wondering what you see happening in that competition and others are there.

What percentage of fairgoers just go to be in a competition?

>> You know, that's one of the unique things about the Iowa State Fair.

Some of those competitions you have to enter in advance.

Others you have to enter.

They're, you know, on the spot.

That's one of them.

Husband calling is another one.

Maybe it's the mullet contest or Mister Legs.

You know, a lot of different competitions like that.

We, for us are still seeing steady growth in those competitions.

Now.

I would say maybe it's more of a reflection that our society needs to exercise more.

If they can't throw the couch up as far as they used to, that'll be a challenge to the media, especially in that competition.

Let's let's work out some before you do that.

But that's just one unique things about the fair that you can come and not even expecting to be part of a competition, you know, in or something.

This year, for example, we've had checkers and chess and badminton or badminton, I'm sorry, backgammon competitions this year we had euchre, for example, at the fair.

So always looking to evolve and change.

>> You have eight hours on a random weekday at the Iowa State Fair.

What is your ideal day?

What are you doing morning to night?

>> That is a great question.

I would first, I always tell people, even if you only have one place or an hour to spend at the fair start in the ag building, it really is.

I feel like encapsulates the entire fair and really our state.

It's the butter cow with some vendors.

It's fruits and vegetables.

It really encapsulates everything about Iowa.

I would spend some time watching some of the free entertainment, you know, throughout the day at the Iowa State Fair, all the entertainment you see are local entertainers, their dance troupes, maybe a local small town band, and we give them the chance to showcase on Iowa's largest stage.

So I'd enjoy that.

And and then I would be really strategic about eating, making sure I have planned my proper day to get through those new foods, which will be announcing on July 14th.

But or also the returning favorites and always time in the livestock area and the.

For each building, you know, ultimately we're a celebration of Iowa agriculture.

But more than that, we're a huge youth development event.

And so to really see what the future of our state is about, you need to go watch those four H and FFA kids show their livestock, do their educational presentations in the four H building, because that that really is what the Iowa State Fair is all about.

>> Well, thank you for being here to talk about the upcoming Iowa State Fair and what may be here in the future.

>> Thank you.

At August 13th through the 23rd.

Don't miss it.

Don't even be late.

>> Oh, there we go.

He's going to sing, folks.

You may watch other episodes of Iowa Press at iowapbs.org.

For everyone here at Iowa PBS.

Thanks for watching today.

>> [MUSIC] [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC] >> Funding for Iowa Press was provided by friends.

The Iowa PBS Foundation.

>> The Bob and Doreen Sheppard Family.

Proud supporters of educational programing seen only on Iowa PBS.

>> Banking in Iowa goes beyond transactions.

Banks work to help people and small businesses succeed and Iowa banks are committed to building confident banking relationships.

Iowa banks your partner through it