August 14, 2023 12:41 PM EDT

A host of presidential candidates visited the Iowa State Fair over the weekend to flip pork chops, view a life-size cow sculpted out of butter, and mingle with voters ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses in January.

Both of the leading Republican presidential candidates—former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—made a campaign stop to the fairgrounds on Saturday along with former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Democratic candidates Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other presidential hopefuls.

Campaigning at the Iowa State Fair has been one of the nation’s most famous political traditions since 1972, when the state began holding the first presidential nominating contests in the country. At the fair, which attracts about a million people over 10 days, Trump posed for selfies, passed out Make America Great Again hats, and gave a speech in which he repeated false claims about the 2020 election. DeSantis toured the fairgrounds with his family and flipped pork chops with Iowa's governor, though his remarks were interrupted by protesters blowing loud whistles and clanging cowbells. Longer-shot candidates also tried to leave an impression with voters, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who performed a rap of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself."

Here are some of the best photos from the Iowa State Fair.

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