Des Moines, IA (KICD) — The Iowa State Fair kicks off Thursday. It will be Jeremy Parsons’ first fair as Chief Executive Officer.

One recent improvement is a dedicated area for “dirt” events.

Parsons tells KICD News the focus of the Iowa State Fair remains agriculture – just as it does at the Clay County Fair that he managed for eleven years.

The 4-H horse show has already begun at the state fairgrounds because all of the livestock shows can’t be crammed into the eleven day run.