The DC State Fair will be Bigger and Badder this Year, so BE there!

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 at 9:39 pm

Enter your vegetable, food product, craft or photography in the competition by Thursday, August 25. Then whether you’ve entered a contest or not, come on out for the Fair on Saturday, August 27 from 10 to 6. Details here.

In 2010, a couple of Washington, D.C.’s urban homesteaders decided to solve a problem – that being that the city had no equivalent of a county or state fair where residents could show off their talents in baking, canning, urban agriculture, home brewing, and photography. So with the help of social media and an abundance of enthusiasm and energy, they made happen the first-ever DC State Fair, which attracted hundreds of fair-goers and entrants and was a really fun day overall.

So naturally it’ll be bigger and better this year (no doubt). Kenneth Moore (one of the most energetic organizers) encourages urbanites to think small:

Many people think of 800 pound pumpkins winning state fairs elsewhere–but this is DC, and DC residents grow all their entries within city limits, where 800 pound pumpkins are quite a rare sight! Last year, a butternut squash won first place as the heaviest vegetable, clocking in at a whopping almost-5-pounds. Gardeners can make a great show and take home the prizes and glory–but only if they enter!

This state fair is unlike traditional county fairs in other ways. Like, check out the contest categories:

Not just the largest vegetables but also the Funkiest-Looking
Homebrew
Prepared foods (pickles and jams).
Photography
And the craft contests aren’t for, say, best crocheting – oh, no. The categories are: Vegetable Sculpture, Bike Accessory, DC Portraits, and an overall prize for Best Craft Made with Recycled Materials.
There’s also a prize for community garden that garners the most number of entries across all contest categories.