Iowa State Fair breaks attendance record

A record number of people attended the Iowa State Fair this year, breaking its previous high mark by more than 8,000.

Organizers announced Monday that estimated attendance was 1,117,398 over the days the fair ran from Aug. 13 to Sunday. That beats the record attendance of 1,109,150 set in 2008.

Fair officials said this has been a solid year for attendance. Before its closing day, the fair had at least six days with more than 100,000 people attending. At this point, that's four more such days than last year.

The fair's chief executive office, Gary Slater, attributed the high number to a couple of things.

First, the weather for most fair days was sunny. Second, a new Iowa law forbids public schools from starting classes before Aug. 23 - meaning more families were likely able to attend.

'Through the second part of the week, with the great weather forecast, I think we have a very good chance of having, if not a record year, one that's almost there,” Slater said before the final tally was announced.