Iowa State Fair, Sprint Car Nationals, Other Iowa Summer Fun

The sprint car races at the Knoxville Nationals and the Iowa State Fair are keeping the locals busy this week. The Sprint car races draw huge crowds from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, and the fair is, of course, immortalized in the movie “State Fair” and big attractions include the “Butter Cow”, the sky ride, and the largest food department of any state fair, so big it has its own building. Of course, there are livestock, horses, a new air-conditioned horse arena, huge farm equipment, the "big boar", huge bulls, plenty of crowds and almost any kind of food "on a stick". The most popular food stand is the Iowa Pork Producers grilling porkchops with sides like beans, cole slaw and potato salad. You then can go to the "dairy barn" for ice cream cones, while watching the milking.  Of course, politicians on the fair "soapbox" are attracting attention this year too.