PHOTOS: Vital stats for the 2010 Iowa State Fair

The ferris wheel is ready for the fair on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The fair opens Thursday and runs through August 22.

Photos by Liz Martin

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The Iowa State Fair opens today and continues through Aug. 22. Get directions and download a map of the Iowa State Fairgrounds at East 30th Street and East University Avenue in Des Moines at www.iowastatefair.org

GETTING IN: Gate admission is $10 adults, $4 children 6 to 11, free for kids 5 and younger.

WHAT A CROWD: Fair attendance has topped 1 million every year since 2002. The record is 1,109,150 in 2008. The grandstand record is 26,200 in 1972 for Sonny and Cher.

LOST AND FOUND: With the small Secur-a-pal device offered at the fair for the first time, a lost child can press a button and send a text message to their parents' cell phone that gives their location.

Shop (and eat) til you drop

You can choose from 200 food stands (cotton candy to corn dogs), 300 exhibitors (farm machinery to hot tubs) and 200 merchandise booths (T-shirts to tools).

NEW EATS: Octodog, a cooked hot dog that splits apart and is served on a straw; Twinkie logs, frozen Twinkies dipped in white chocolate and rolled in cashews.

PICK-UP STICKS: More than 50 foods are sold on a stick at the fair, including pickles, deep-fried candy bars, chocolate-covered cheesecake and hard-boiled eggs.

SHOW ME YOUR STUFF: About 17,000 people enter about 59,000 exhibits in categories ranging from cattle to needlepoint to vegetables.

PLENTY OF BULL: Big Black, an Angus bull, set the fair's Super Bull contest record last year at 3,404 pounds. This year's contest is at 7 tonight. This year's winner can be seen at the fair until Aug. 22.

CAN'T GO?: Watch one of the three movie adaptations of “State Fair,” based on the novel written by Iowan Phil Stong. Our favorite is the 1962 Pat Boone/Ann-Margret version.

Source: Gazette staff and wire reports