The Great Alaska State Fair

Some pretty funky looking chickens at the fair!

Spent an entire day at the State Fair in Palmer this past Friday.  Sizewise, it is much smaller than the Los Angeles County Fair, but it had all the required elements: farm animals, vegetables, quilts, cheesey souvenirs, a midway and fair food. We partook of all except the midway – a little old to handle those twisty turvy rides.  But they were fun to watch.

The State Fair has been going on for 75 years.

Watched four year olds leading pygmy goats through an obstacle course – what a hoot!

Parents were allowed to help - good thing!

The really big veggies weren’t on display – the contest is next weekend and the farmers keep them growing until the last minute.  They are predicting having at least one pumpkin that will be close to 1800 pounds – the world’s record is 1810. They did have a couple of pumpkins in the 800 pound range and some cabbages that weighed more than 70 pounds.  That would make a lot of coleslaw!

Imagine a pumpking over twice this size!  That is what they are expecting for a champion this year.

This cabbage was over 3 feet tall.

Some veggie art.

The fair did not have very impressive roses, but the dahlias were huge.  This one was probably a foot in diameter.

Again, we were impressed with the number of entries made by children – both of the fairs we have been to seem to have an emphasis on that – pretty cool!

This wire salmon was made by a 13 year old.

We watched a lumberjack show.  It was pretty entertaining.  Thought it was interesting that the “loggers” came from Wisconsin, not Alaska, but that is where the world championship competitions occur, so I guess it is pretty big business in Wisconsin. The young man on the left in the video is the world champion in pole climbing - didn't do real well on the log rolling competition though.  Ouch!

The fairgrounds got pretty crowded as the day went on.  This is by far the most people we have seen in a long time. Kind of looking forward to getting back into the countryside and away from the crowds.

The grounds were getting pretty crowded in the evening.

An off-road RV!  And it doubles as a boat. Just what we need.