Fans turned up from all over the midwest for the Minor League Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Tuesday.

Attendees complimented the Field of Dreams for its history, mystique, and beauty before watching the Quad Cities River Bandits, playing as the Blue Sox, defeat the Cedar Rapids Kernels, playing as the Bunnies, 7-2.

Penny and Tim McGinnis, from near Cincinnati, Ohio, said when the opportunity to attend a game at the Field of Dreams presented itself, they had to take it. Tim, who works as an usher for the Cincinnati Reds, and Penny, who is a writer, said this is their first time at the site.

“This is an awesome place,” Tim said. “And it’s all about baseball. I grew up playing it, I grew up dreaming to be on these types of fields. I’ve had the chance to do a lot of stuff in the game. I got to coach it, now I get to be a [Cincinnati] Reds usher. It’s really cool.”

Penny, said the movie’s theme of chasing a dream and the way the family of the movie’s protagonist, Ray Kinsella, supported him through it despite outside criticism, has made the Field of Dreams a target destination for her.

Penny and Tim said they are excited that the Reds will be featuring in this year’s MLB game and Tim hopes the tradition of having both an MLB and minor league game at the site every year will continue.

Wayland Whitney from Fairfax, Iowa, was at the Field of Dreams for last year’s MLB game and said he has been to the site many times before. While Whitney couldn’t get tickets to this year’s MLB game, he still wanted to get back to the Field of Dreams, which led him to buy tickets to Tuesday’s minor league game.

“[The Field of Dreams] just feels different,” Whitney said. “It’s just a cool place. And I like how they didn’t destroy the original movie set, and added [the second field] to it. And there was some controversy about that originally, but I think this really adds to the whole value of the experience.”

Sheila Block and Linda Brumfield from the Columbus, Ohio, area, both making their first trip to the Field of Dreams, said their love for baseball drew them to the site. Though both are Cincinnati Reds fans, Block and Brumfield will only be in town for Tuesday’s minor league game because of high ticket prices for the MLB game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, set to take place on Thursday.

“She [Brumfield] just retired so this is like a girls’ road trip,” Block said, laughing.

Block, who has been to Iowa many times before, but never the Field of Dreams, said it’s exciting to be in a place with such history and beauty.

For Brumfield on the other hand, this is her first ever time in Iowa.  Brumfield admired not only the Field of Dreams, but the state itself, complimenting the fields and the number of solar panels she saw upon entering the state.

John Maher, from Madison, Wis., said he was able to attend partly because he’s an employee of Beacon Athletics who provided netting for the MLB field.

“We’re pretty lucky to be associated with this event,” Maher said.

Maher said his great experience attending the MLB game in 2021 between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox made him want to come back this year.

“It’s just spectacular,” Maher said. “I mean, they do an incredible job with the facilities, the corn. It’s just a first class event.”