County fairs have been around for a long time.
In Minnesota they began before the Civil War. The Benton-Franklin County Fair began in 1948 and combined entertainment, agriculture and community into one great week. Over the years it has changed but from having elephants on display to hosting great concerts, it still knows how to put on a great show.
Our county fair provides a great venue for groups to interact with the public and show their member’s talents and skills. These groups have members from young to old who bring livestock, and show off their vegetable growing skills. It provides a platform for both upcoming and professional artists to display their talents and allow the public to learn about hobbies that they otherwise would rarely see. It provides a place for our community to celebrate the hard work and talent of our young people.
For groups like ours, the fair is both our largest public event and our largest local show. We have the opportunity to interact with hundreds of people a day, and show them what we do both through our displays and through our demonstrations. The past few years we have set up an interactive demonstration for the children on Children’s Day and last year it was the best one yet. We had a lot of fun splashing and stomping on the wool to felt a rug. The fair also provides a rare opportunity to have a judged show on this side of the state. This is a great opportunity to have an unbiased judge look at your items and give you feedback on how to improve your crafting skills.
Both our demonstrations and our displayed items have brought a lot of interested people into DFA. This is a great way to gain new members, gain new friends, and to develop interest for our crafts in our community. It cost $10 to enter your work in the fair. That covers one entry or as many entries as you want to bring. For your $10 you get a fair ticket and a chance for a prize and or ribbon. The ribbons are awarded by the fair and earn the maker money. The prizes are awarded by the same judge but are paid for by DFA. Last year we had a small number of entries. We need to have more this year to keep our place at the fair and continue our outreach to the community.
