Contests

Our contests are designed to showcase the agricultural, culinary, and artistic talents of the D.C. community. Check out the 2024 lineup of contests below. Review the 2024 DC State Fair Contest Guide for all contest rules, judging criteria, and submission instructions. General rules that apply to all contests are also listed at the bottom of this page. The deadline to register was 9 p.m. on Friday August 16.

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

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., homebrew, cider). Individuals under the age of 18 seeking to enter contests require approval from their parent/guardian.

3. To maintain fairness, no one deemed a professional in a contest field may submit an entry. This means that no one can enter a contest if they earn revenue from selling the items or service under that contest category. For example, a person that sells their focaccia in any context may not enter any of the bread contests.

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. Each entry must be accompanied with a removable label that includes the name of the individual submitting it, the contest it is 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 the maximum number of entries allowed, which in most cases is 20. Where there are exceptions, they are specified in the individual contest’s rules. The DC State Fair reserves the right to cancel any contest that does not receive at least two entries on judging day. No walk-up registrations will be accepted.

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. Except where noted, any non-disposable containers or the entries themselves will be available for claiming after judging is complete (on the same day judging occurs), then donated or disposed if not claimed. The DC State Fair cannot guarantee there will be leftovers of the culinary contest entries, nor will refrigeration be provided for the culinary contest entries. 

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

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

14. 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.

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

16. 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.

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