Why the Illinois State Fair?
Given that they live in Iowa...
shareDon't understand ... Why should their residence in Iowa affect their decision to visit the Illinois State Fair for fun?
For storyline purposes, the husband and kids had to disappear for a few days so that Kincaid and Francesca could meet. And the State Fair occurs about 5-6 hours' drive from where they live in Iowa, which is a decent distance. So the fair served the purpose of getting the husband and kids away. That's really it ...
They weren’t just going for fun, they were entering into a competition. I’ve never heard of teenagers entering a competition in a different state than their own. I would expect that to be against the rules, and just not to occur to anyone anyway.
And yes, obviously I understand the plot function of going to the state fair. Why would it not have been accomplished just as well by going to the Iowa State Fair (which is much more legendary anyway)? I think they honestly forgot what state the story was taking place in at that moment, and somehow no one caught it because it’s also a Midwestern state that starts with I.