The Iowa State Fair, running August 8-18, 2024, has announced the winners of its food contest and has come to a close.

According to the Iowa State Fair’s official website, “The internationally renowned Iowa State Fair is the largest single event in the state of Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial exhibitions in the country. Attracting over a million people from around the world each year, the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines is Iowa’s grand celebration, a celebration of the state’s best in agriculture, industry, entertainment and performance. It is the true heartbeat of the Midwest, unparalleled and inimitable. The inspiration for Iowan Phil Stong’s original novel State Fair, three motion pictures and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, the Iowa State Fair is without a doubt the most famous state fair in the country.”

Events like these attract a lot of people because of the unique and special food that is offered there. In addition, many hold competitions and award prizes for the best food of the year.

At this year’s Iowa State Fair, “the three finalists were chosen from a list of dozens of new foods before the fair. Judges chose the Bacon Cheeseburger Egg Roll (Winn & Sara’s Kitchen), the Lobster Corn Dog (Destination Grille) and the Iowa Sm’oak’ed Roll (Whatcha Smokin? BBQ)?”, KCCI Des Moines 8 reported.

Among those finalists was “the bacon cheeseburger egg roll. There were 9,204 votes for People’s Choice Best New Food. The bacon cheeseburger egg roll received 48.6% of the vote,” according to the Des Moines Register.

Additionally, Yahoo!Life reported on some unique dishes, including fried gum, “waffles made from dog food drizzled with chocolate and peanut butter, pork belly corn dog bites served with maple syrup or Mike’s hot honey, and fried pepper chips.”