DOSWELL—This year’s State Fair of Virginia is the perfect place to explore all that is home grown.
Themed “Where Home Grown Happens,” the 10-day event will be held Sept. 27 through Oct. 6 at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. This year’s fair will feature new activities and attractions for fairgoers of all ages to connect with Virginia agriculture.
“All that you can see, do and experience in Virginia is brought to life!” said Sarah Jane Thomsen, the fair’s manager of agriculture education and strategic partnerships programming.
Visitors will have an immersive look at everything grown, raised and made in the commonwealth, with ample activities and displays throughout the fair. Fairgoers can view popular crops like tobacco, cotton and gourds growing in the crops garden; explore Virginia commodities in the Meadow Pavilion; and marvel at giant pumpkins, squashes and watermelons in the horticulture tent.
New attractions this year include the Virginia Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association’s National Alpaca Farm Days, Sept. 28-29, which will provide an opportunity to interact with alpacas, learn about alpaca farming, view live demonstrations and shop for alpaca products.
Visitors also can get a glimpse of goat yoga and other kid-friendly agritourism activities with Pactamere Farm on the first Friday evening of the fair. Other up-close adventures for animal lovers include milking demonstrations in the SouthLand Dairy Farmers Mobile Classroom, fascinating bird displays in the Pigeon and Dove Tent, and hatching chicks and other farm animals at Young MacDonald’s Farm.
Fairgoers will find an enhanced Natural Resources Area inside the Farm Bureau Center with vibrant displays, Virginia wildlife species and interactive activities offered by the fair’s natural resources partners.
Visitors can learn about the everyday heroes behind our food, fuel and fiber with the State Fair’s second “Ag Superhero Trading Card” series, featuring 11 Virginia agriculturalists. The cards come with related lesson plans for teachers.
The fair also offers livestock competitions that attendees can observe at the Equine & Livestock Complex, including the return of the beloved Draft Horse Pull on Sept. 28. Last year, youth and adult exhibitors showed over 2,000 animals during the fair’s 10-day run.
This year’s “Supreme Overall Showman” contest category in the Youth Livestock Program will feature new scholarship opportunities for students showcasing beef cattle, meat goats, sheep and swine.
The culmination of the livestock competitions is the Sale of Champions on Oct. 5. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the State Fair of Virginia Youth Scholarship Program.
Fairgoers can participate in the Maola Milk Mustache Challenge and help communities in need by purchasing milk at the fair to benefit the Federation of Virginia Food Banks’ “Milk for Good” program. The program provides milk to food pantries across the state.
Thomsen encourages fairgoers of all ages to discover, celebrate and indulge in all that is Virginia-grown at the State Fair of Virginia.
For more information, visit StateFairVa.org.
The State Fair is held each fall at its permanent home at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County and attracts 200,000 fairgoers. The event celebrates the best of Virginia’s past, present and future through scholarship initiatives, creative programming and a focus on the commonwealth’s agriculture and natural resources industries. In 2023, the fair was among 182 diverse events that drew more than 530,000 visitors to The Meadow. The venue had an overall regional economic impact of $41.5 million.
Contact Marlene Jolliffe, State Fair executive director, at 804-994-2802 or Pam Wiley, vice president of communications, at 804-291-6315.