A Fair to Remember
Covering the 2015 Iowa State Fair for Iowa Public Television made me eat my words. For the last half of my life I have been down on the fair, never understanding why so many people came to Des Moines to mill around a fried food-fueled, tractor-filled, expensive fairgrounds. Well after 10 trips to the fair this year I fully get it. There are hundreds of awesome event, contests, booths, and just general things to do at the fair. The Iowa State Fair is a HUGE deal to Iowa Public Television . IPTV's been covering the fair for 45 years and every year the entire production staff, dedicates 11 days in August to running around the fairgrounds with cameras. Of my 10 state fair odysseys, seven were for work and 3 were personal trips with family. Every time I've gone to the fair in years past whether with friends or family, I've left underwhelmed. Before the Fair got underway this year I was worried it was going to be more of the same except worse because I would subjected to ...