The largest fair in the state is the Georgia National Fair in Perry, GA. The fair is a great opportunity for youth to participate in a variety of activities either onsite or afar.
Taking youth to the fair is a great way to get youth involved in the 4-H club. What kid doesn’t love cotton candy, fair rides, and fun? A bonus to staff members and families is the fair is a low-cost event that is guaranteed to be fun. Activities onsite range from concerts, rides, animal shows, art exhibits, fired food tasting, craft projects, and game booths. Whether you take a group to enjoy the animal exhibits, the rides, showcases, or all of the activities I am sure youth will have fun.
If you are looking to incorporate educational experiences into the fair then consider promoting the 4-H Fair competitions. Youth can participate in onsite cooking competitions. A popular fair cooking competition is pizza making. Another great event at the fair is the talent show. Do you have youth with signing, instrument, puppetry, or dancing skills? If so encourage them to enter in this statewide competition.
The fair also has a variety of competitions that youth do not have to be present for through 4-H. Youth simply create a project/craft/exhibit to showcase and a representative drops the project off at the fair. Youth can create scarecrows, educational exhibits, art from recycled materials, a craft from agricultural products, and plant exhibits. It is likely that teens of all ages will find an area of interest due to the wide range of competitions available at the fair. Also, an incentive for some teens is that the awards include money.
How can you incorporate fair activities into your base programming? Pick out a craft or activity from the list of competitions. Pick a month after school for youth to work on their fair projects once a week or host a fair summer day program. You can implement the fair activities into your afterschool, summer, or special family night events. Lowndes County 4-H in years past promoted the fair through hosting summer fair exhibit workshop days where teens could choose a time of day to work with a staff member on their project. The award for entering a project for Lowndes 4-H’ers was attending the fair in the fall. Other counties will choose one competition like the gourd decorating project and host a special afterschool event for teens to work on it together. The previous can be a fun social event as well as a structured event for promoting the fair. If you are planning your afterschool club schedule why not slip a fair day into your plans?
To learn more about the fair competitions, how to drop off projects, and other fair-related events check out the Perry Fair website. https://www.georgianationalfair.com/
2019 Fair Dates:
October 3-October 13, 2019
Fair Address:
Georgia National Fairgraounds
401 Larry Walker Parkway
Perry, GA 31069