Fried food. A butter cow. Why do presidential candidates flock to the Iowa State Fair?

Every four years, presidential candidates descend on the state of Iowa during the sweltering August heat to flip pork chops, give stump speeches, see a butter cow and more at the Iowa State Fair.

This year’s festivities begin Thursday and stretch into Aug. 20. But why do White House hopefuls pack into this fair in Des Moines, Iowa, in the first place? The answer is simple: the Iowa caucuses.

Since the 1970s — when the Iowa caucuses started — the Iowa State Fair has served as an all-encompassing pit stop for some good, old-fashioned retail politicking. It's a chance for candidates to mingle with voters from all walks of life, many of whom don’t typically frequent campaign events.

The Iowa caucuses are voters’ first chance to officially weigh in on primary candidates, testing the waters for how the race may play out in the rest of the country — though the tradition may be fading on the Democrats' side, with President Joe Biden expected to easily win renomination and the Democratic National Committee knocking Iowa from its first-in-the-nation perch. The state had drawn frequent criticism from Democrats over how representative it really is of the country with a 90 percent white statewide population, a concern that isn't echoed in the GOP. The 2024 caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 15.

For candidates who haven’t qualified for the Republican primary debate stage later this month, the Iowa State Fair is an opportunity to appeal to voters and stand out from their rivals. Candidates polling at 1 percent or below nationally, such as Asa Hutchinson, Perry Johnson, Francis Suarez, Will Hurd and Doug Burgum, will all be at this year’s fair.

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, Marianne Williamson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nikki Haley have also said they’ll be there.

The hoopla around the Iowa State Fair can also have the opposite of the desired effect, leaving a stain on a candidate’s campaign. In 2011, then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney infamously said during a soapbox speech that “corporations are people” — a line that haunted him throughout his campaign as he was criticized as being out of touch with everyday Americans.

The fair draws about 1 million people every year — prime targets for candidates to mingle with voters, shake hands and pose for selfies.

In 2019, former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg spent time mingling with voters while also scarfing down as much food as he could. Buttigieg consumed a root beer float, a pork chop on a stick, a fried bacon ball BLT, fried Oreos and more.

In 2015, Trump appealed to those under the voting age on the outskirts of the fairgrounds by giving children rides in his helicopter. “We have quite a few children gonna take rides today,” Trump said at the time. “Where are the children? Get them over here.”

And in 2012, former President Barack Obama shut down a beer tent while mingling with voters for two hours, which the owner says cost the business thousands of dollars, according to the Des Moines Register. With chants of “four more beers” heard in the background, Obama high-fived voters gathered for him in the tent.

Candidates will also participate in the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox, where 13 different candidates will speak for 20 minutes each to give their campaign pitch and answer questions from voters. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will also host her own “fair-side chats” with GOP presidential candidates throughout the 11-day fair.