DES MOINES, Iowa — This weekend you can get your State Fair food fix early.

The Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation is hosting its annual Corndog Kickoff on Saturday, July 12. It takes place at the Varied Industries Building at the fairgrounds.

It includes fair food grazing from 35 different vendors and a silent and live auction.

This year’s theme is “Stir it Up” to celebrate the competitive food department at the Iowa State Fair. In honor of that, the Corndog Kickoff will feature a new bake sale this year. Organizers say they need your help to make it happen.

“If you have a great chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s won a blue ribbon, you can bring it out to the bake sale,” Peter Cownie, executive director of the Blue Ribbon Foundation, said. “And then you’ll be able to sell it off for a fairgoer to enjoy and you’re supporting improvements on the fairgrounds while doing so.”

Some of the improvements you’ll see at the fairgrounds this year are at the horse barn with a new paint job, restored windows, and new restrooms. It’s part of the “Back the Barns” initiative to renovate all four livestock barns.

There’s also a new plaza in between JR’s SouthPork Ranch and Old West Bar-B-Q. You’ll find new restrooms there too, as well as more seating and concessions.

Cownie says the Corndog Kickoff is the foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year. According to its website, to date the event has raised more than $8 million for renovations at the fairgrounds.

“Fairgoers want those memories to always exist and be created those 11 days. What they did when they were a kid with their parents and grandparents,” Cownie said. “So that’s what we’re maintaining and growing as well as new things for people to do at the Iowa State Fair. And that’s what you’re supporting when you’re supporting the Blue Ribbon Foundation.”

You can buy tickets for the Corndog Kickoff at the door day of or online. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. 

Items for the bake sale must be dropped off at the Varied Industries Building by Saturday morning.

More details are posted on the Blue Ribbon Foundation’s website.

Iowa News: