Contests

Our contests are designed to showcase the agricultural, culinary, and artistic talents of the D.C. community. Check out the 2023 lineup of contests below, created with input from you, the residents of the District of Columbia. Review the 2023 DC State Fair Contest Guide for all contest rules, judging criteria, and submission instructions.

The deadline to register for contests is August 31.

Review the general rules at the bottom of this page. These rules apply to all contests.

GENERAL RULES

1. Participation in most contests is open to all residents of the District of Columbia as well as Montgomery County, Arlington County, Prince George’s County, and Alexandria. Where there are exceptions, they are specified in the individual contest’s rules.

2. All contests are open to all ages, except any deemed exclusive for youth or those that are age restricted (e.g., beer, cider). Individuals under the age of 18 seeking to enter contests require approval from their parent/guardian.

3. To maintain fairness, no one deemed as a professional in a contest field may submit an entry. For example, a professional baker may not enter the bread contest.

4. Entries must be original and created by the individual submitting the entry, though they can be based on published recipes. No copyrighted materials or images, including copyrighted characters (e.g., comic and/or television characters), photographs, and magazine or newspaper illustrations may be included in contest submissions.

5. All food/drink contests require a list of ingredients submitted with the entry on judging day.

6. Only individuals may enter contests, though affiliations can be specified. For example, Denise Smith submitting a tomato grown by 5th graders at the Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School garden.

7. All entries must be accompanied with a removable label that includes the name of the individual submitting them, the contest they are being submitted for, and the name of the entry.

8. Entries must be submitted by the deadline described in the individual contest rules.

9. The DC State Fair reserves the right to close registration before the stated deadline for any contest that receives more than 30 entries. The DC State Fair reserves the right to cancel any contest that does not receive at least two entries on judging day. 

10. No profanity or sexually explicit content may be submitted for any of the contests. The DC State Fair reserves the right to exclude any entry deemed inappropriate or ineligible. Contest entries may be disqualified for failure to comply with regulations of the DC State Fair or the District of Columbia, or for any reason deemed appropriate by the DC State Fair President or Contests Committee Chair (or their designees).

11. DC State Fair officials are not responsible for lost items, so consider bringing entries in disposable (preferably recyclable or compostable) containers. Any non-disposable containers will be available for claiming at the fair, then donated or disposed of at the close of the event if not claimed.

12. Upon submission, culinary contest entries become the property of the DC State Fair. Agricultural and artistic contest entries can be returned to contest participants after judging, upon request.

13. Contest participants grant the DC State Fair the right to utilize the submitted materials in future fair promotions or activities.

14. Members of the DC State Fair Board of Directors may not participate in any judged contests. 

15. Sponsors of a contest, or employees of an organization sponsoring a contest, may not submit entries for the contest they or their organization is sponsoring.

16. Individuals submitting contest entries cannot judge the contest(s) in which they enter but may judge other contests.

17. Contest winners must be present on the day of the fair to collect their ribbons or make special arrangements with one of the members of the DC State Fair Board of Directors to collect their ribbons after the fair.

18. All decisions are final. There will be no appeals.

*All contests will award a Blue Ribbon 1st place winner. Select contests, those noted with an asterisk (*), will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.