This year's 50+ new food offerings, and the usual array of everything-edible-on-a stick, along with stellar grandstand entertainment, and even a record-breaking attempt at the largest cornhole game made the 2022 Iowa State Fair one of the most attended in the event's history.

After announcing a record for single-day attendance last Saturday, officials still had another day to tally up an overall total. The final number was staggering, at 1.1 million attendees, making it the fourth-most attended Iowa State Fair ever, according to the Des Moines Register.

Looking at exact numbers, the Register states that 1,118,763 fairgoers came through the gates this year, an overall total that was 24,000 more than in 2021. That Saturday attendance record was 128,298. The final day of the event on Sunday saw 101,846 visitors.

There was so much to love about this year's state fair, and in one instance we mean that literally, as an Iowa couple got engaged inside the butter cow cooler on the fairgrounds last weekend. Fans of Alanis Morrisette didn't let a good soaking dampen their spirits at her show on August 15, and as previously mentioned, over 700 people joined together to set a Guinness World Record for the largest cornhole game.

The all-time attendance record was set in 2019, with 1,170,375.

Next year's Iowa State Fair is set to run from Aug. 10-20, 2023. Below are the daily attendance totals for 2022, compared to last year's number in parentheses:

  • Thursday: 82,862 (77,700)
  • Friday: 103,556 (104,177)
  • Saturday: 113,012 (111,603)
  • Sunday: 110,661 (107,410)
  • Monday: 87,599 (95,621)
  • Tuesday: 99,965 (90,688)
  • Wednesday: 97,901 (91,510)
  • Thursday: 99,715 (96,064)
  • Friday: 93,348 (101,952)
  • Saturday: 128,298 (117,764)
  • Sunday: 101,846 (99,991)

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