Iowa State Fairgrounds — Attraction in Des Moines

The fair has been my family's annual tradition since it first moved to Des Moines in 1886 that I've passed on to my son. For five generations it has been a time to spend with family, share new experiences and revisit old ones.

Where else in one day can you experience Iowa's agricultural traditions, culture, entertainment, art, history and thrills? Plus incredible food, craft beers and wines in a beautifuly shaped outdoor park space.

Yes, it can be expensive but the majority of the experience is free with admission. Wear comfortable shoes and explore. Don't get caught in the finical trap of the midway and fair food. Sure indulge but exploring further east will exposed many hidden corners and attractions that many miss.

Here's some hints for going to the fair on a budget.

Parking - Des Moines Rappid Transit's park and ride is the best option. Park at the Iowa State Capital, 7th street & High parking garage or Southeast Polk High School for free, then for $2 for 11 & older and $1 for 6-10 years old and 5 & under for free ride the bus right to the fair Gate and back. Consider that parking elsewhere will range in price will average between $10 to $15 with cheaper options up to 5 or 6 blocks from the fair.

APPLISHUS have a number of location throughout the fair. Not only do they offer some of the best Apple based food but sell ice tea and soda. Souvenir cup are $6 and refills are $3

Mountain Man Camp located just east of the Susan Knapp amphitheater offers free demos, affordable handmade items and one of the most affordable food options at the fair Fry Bread Tacos and Treats. If you have kids this is a great place to turn them loose with $5-10 to buy a souvenir.

Art Attack and the Cultural Center offer free art activities for kid children, affordable face painting and many make and take experiences for those of all ages. Not only is the building air conditioned but features photography, paintings, wood crafts and many other local and regional arts.

The Fair Museum and Pioneers Hall are located on the east side of the fair in the hill. Grandfather's barn is also there to if you are interested in Iowa wines. The museums offer fixed exhibits in the newer building and changing exhibits in the old Polk County building. Both are air conditioned and give you a look into the fair's past. Also the rockers on the porch is one of the best resting spots at the fair. Pioneers Hall offers a display of collectable, some for sale, live entertainment and a working blacksmith and printing press. For a donation they will print your child's name and give them the print type for free.

Ag Building offers free eggs in a stick. Also the upper floor offers many free samples of Iowa Ag products. Don't forget to get your honey sticks 3 for $1.

Planning out your routes. It is best to pick an agenda for your day. Big part if the fair is seeing things you don't normally see and of course getting your picture taken next to it. Almost everything is free. A quick trip through the animal barns will allow to see campion level sheep, cattle, pigs and horses. Plus don't miss the biggest ram in the sheep barn, the biggest boar in the swine building and the super bull in the cattle barn. To the east near the 4h building is the Avenue of Breeds which has more exotic animals and breeds.

Snakes alive cost $4 to get into and has a number of exotic reptiles on exhibit plus you can get a photo with a snake for $10. This has been a tradition for fair goes since the 80s. If talent shows are your thing, spend sometime in the shade at the Bill Riley stage. Also the triangle area just west if the stage featured one of the biggest collection of food venders. The best corndogs, turkey legs, gizmos, tenderloins, etc... can be found in this area by the Pepsi Clock. The unofficial meet me at location of the Iowa State Fair.

Some other must sees are the air conditioned VI building,DNR and under...

Was here earlier today for the state fair. I'll mention my likes and dislikes... the areas were clean.. wasn't trash laying around. Amount of options for food was nice. Lots of people there but was still not overly difficult to walk around. Was pretty disappointed overall though. $16 per person just to get in the gate was disappointing. Stuff I'm disappointed about.. admission price, lots of vendors wanted $3 for a bottle of water.. insane and shame on them. $6 to ride the seats that are in the air that take you from one end of the park to the other.. also insane.. that should be either free since admission is so expensive.. or maybe $3 or $4 but definitely not $6.. unless it's going to massage my feet while I'm up there. One vendor is charging $12 for a steak sandwich with Texas toast.. the steak is small and pretty thin though. In the varied industries building a vendor is charging over $400 for a "maxx" device that connects to your TV and makes your TV a smart TV. For that price you could just buy a new TV that has a Roku built into it or get a firetv stuck. Or buy a modded one off eBay. If you know you know. The tablets in thrillville area.. lots of those were either unresponsive or not turned on so that sucked because that made it harder to add money onto the reloadable cards. Thought it was dumb those costed $1.. those should be included with admission as well if someone wants one. Even if it's just one card per group. I even tried downloading the Magic Money app to reload my card using my phone but that app was unresponsive and never did load or do anything.. even tried it once I got home still not working even though I'm using my wifi. Also tried uninstalling and reinstalling it. You guys need to go with a different reloadable card vendor.. because lots of the tablets were not working and the app was not working either. I only rode two rides.. Zipper and Extreme. Both of the rides were so short they were over before I even realized they started. For those that see my review.. you're not really missing out on anything if you don't go this year. In the varied industries building there's vendors selling hot tubs, gutters, roofing, siding, expensive smart TV boxes, pots and pans, etc. For rides there is no Crazy Mouse this year.. in fact there's no roller coaster at all from what I saw. There are rides that spin and go upside down and stuff though.. but all very short. $6 per person to ride them though and they're over so fast it's ridiculous. If anyone else is unhappy about the admission price or anything at all I highly suggest all of you go to their website and click the "contact us" button at the bottom. Let them know. It should be about having a good time.. not just making...

They need more accomodations for disabled people. But that aside it's basically amazing. Rides need to be seriously inspected but these are outliers.

Most things are basically perfect. I'm going back next year. Food Stands, Exhibits, The Varied industries Building, are all examples of Fun at the IOWA State Fair.

Tip 0: The Varied industries Building has places to charge you Phone and restrooms nearby.

Remember to stay in the shade to stay cool.

Ticket prices: Entry tickets for Adults is $14. Kids are $5. Under the Age of 5 is Free.

Tip 1: Bring a Spare Charger for your phone when you can. When splitting up set a meeting point you all have been to before.

Staples: Try the Iowa State Fair Corn Dog and Fried Candy bars, Fried Twinkies, and Fried Oreos.

Tip 2: Remember the Iowa State Fair is Fun but it's expensive to begin with. It gets more expensive the longer you stay there. Plan a Budget accordingly. Make a loose plan but plan around you getting sidetracked. You will get off the original plan that's just a fact. So know yourself and know the Fairgrounds. Plan according to both your budget and things you want to do the most. Don't Rush! Relax...... Chill dude🤤🥳😁😋🥵🌞🎉🎊🥙🌯🌮🥘🧆🍝🥂🍻🍺🎡🎢🎪 This event only happens once a year for a few weeks.

Why you want to make a plan:

You're plan exists for one purpose. To Maximize Fun potential. Running out of MONEY is No fun. No money means no Funnel cake or Corn Dogs or Gyros or Turkey Legs. I could go on.

Running out of TIME is No Fun either. You only have so many hours in a day. We all gotta sleep and go to work at some point unless you are wealthy then you can't relate.

The Fair goes on for 11Days. Of you have a camper it's $30 a day to...