Corndog Kickoff

Each July, Fair-lovers whet their Iowa State Fair appetite by attending the Corndog Kickoff Benefit Auction and Fair Food Grazing Party. It is a fun-filled night complete with live entertainment, all of your Fair food favorites, and a variety of unique auction packages to satisfy any State Fair enthusiast.

The Corndog Kickoff began in 1997 and was first held in Pioneer Hall. The 460 attendees bid on 20 live and 43 silent packages, raising over $67,000 for the Iowa State Fair. Like the Fair itself, the Kickoff fundraiser has evolved over the last 16 years, and has grown to encompass over half of the William C. Knapp Varied Industries Building.

Nearly 1,400 people come together each year to bid on over 30 live auction packages and 150 silent auction packages. To date, the event has raised a total of over $2.7 million toward Fairgrounds renovations.

The event is coordinated each spring by a committee of volunteers and Foundation staff members. Please contact Allyson if you want to get involved in planning this pre-Fair tradition!

Join us for "The Grandest Show Around" on July 13, 2013 as we celebrate our seventeenth Corndog Kickoff!

The Blue Ribbon Foundation invites you to join us for “The Grandest Show Around,” a night filled with exciting auction packages, entertainment, fireworks and all of your favorite Fair foods on Saturday, July 13, at the William C. Knapp Varied Industries Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds!

Tickets will go on sale the end of May, and will be available for $75. Beginning June 30, tickets will sell for $100 a piece. Don't miss your opportunity to experience this pre-Fair event under the Big Top!
 

Rags for Riches

Again this year, we will be playing a 50/50 raffle game halfway through the live auction. You are invited to purchase a souvenir bandana, or “rag,” for $10 to get
in the game. As a participant during the game, you will hold it in the air or keep it down at your side.

The auctioneer will flip a coin – heads is rags up and tails is down. If you choose correctly, you remain standing and continue to play; when you’re wrong, you sit down. The game will continue until we have one lucky participant left standing.

The winner will receive half of the amount made from the rag sales. Last year’s winner took home $2,545! Rags will be sold the night of the event – remember to play for your chance to go from a rag to riches!

More than 1,400 Iowa State Fair fans gathered for a night of fun, food and fundraising at the Blue Ribbon Foundation’s sixteenth annual Corndog Kickoff Benefit Auction and Fair Food Grazing Party! This year’s event was a huge success, raising record-setting funds for the renovation and preservation of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

The Blue Ribbon Foundation auctioned off 31 live and 155 silent auction packages for totals of $122,750 and $36,700, respectively. The remaining funds consisted of patron contributions and ticket sales, for a grand total and new event record of nearly $350,000 raised for Fairgrounds renovations!

Thank you to the Corndog Kickoff patrons, concessionaires, auction donors, committees, volunteers, and guests who helped make it a success!