Iowa State Fair unveils 80 new foods ahead of August opening

The Iowa State Fair has unveiled more than 80 new foods for its August 13-23 run at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, with the lineup coming from nearly 200 food stands and including four new vendors and five new food stands. Officials say the annual food reveal remains one of the fair’s most anticipated traditions, and the 2026 menu is being folded into the fair’s broader Fair Spirit celebration.

The most eye-catching additions lean into the nation’s 250th anniversary. The list includes 1776 Dubai Strawberries, 1776 Parmesan Ice Cream, an All-American Scrambled Egg Roll, Amaretto Ice Cream topped with an American flag and Star-Spangled Swine. The fair’s food culture has long rewarded the oversized, the playful and the photograph-ready, and this year’s slate pushes that formula with a more explicit patriotic theme.

Other new items keep the focus on novelty and local identity. Fairgoers will find caviar and chicken nuggets, bison burgers, bison nachos, butter-dipped ice cream cones and an Iowa Sweet Corn & Popcorn Sundae. Those additions sit alongside the kinds of over-the-top combinations that have turned the fair’s food rollout into a statewide event of its own, one that blends regional ingredients with the kind of visual excess that travels fast on social media.

Officials will narrow the field on July 14 at 1 p.m., when they reveal the 2026 Top 11 Best New Food finalists during a Facebook Live stream. Fairgoers will vote for the Top 3 finalists during the fair itself, adding a competitive layer to what has become as much a public showcase as a concession-stand preview.