The 2023 Nebraska State Fair will be Friday, Aug. 25–Monday, Sept. 4 at Fonner Park in Grand Island. 4-H events will be featured the first weekend. Nebraska 4-H has lowered the age eligibility requirements for most in-person events to 9 years of age (by Jan. 1 of the current year), including livestock, rabbit and dog shows, Fashion Show and most contests. Note: an exception is the Chicken BBQ contest for 4-H’ers 14–18. For a schedule of 4-H activities at the State Fair and more, go to http://4h.unl.edu/state-fair.
• STATIC EXHIBITS ARE SELECTED AT SUPER FAIR — 4-H static exhibits must be selected by judges at county fairs to advance to the State Fair. Note: In many cases, level 1 projects are not eligible. At the Lancaster County Super Fair, a purple State Fair sticker will be placed on all exhibits selected for State Fair along with a general information sheet. After Super Fair, exhibitors will be mailed a detailed State Fair instruction sheet, including a listing of qualified exhibits and when to bring their qualifying exhibits to Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County conference rooms on Monday, Aug. 21, from 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. OR Tuesday, Aug. 22, from 8 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Lancaster County 4-H staff will transport all Lancaster County 4-H static exhibits for State Fair to and from Grand Island.
• ANIMAL ENTRIES DUE ONLINE BY AUG. 10 — Animal exhibitors are eligible to participate at the Nebraska State Fair regardless of county fair placing. To be eligible, livestock nominations and payment must have been completed online at https://showstockmgr.com by June 15. 4-H/FFA youth or their families must submit their final animal entries online via ShoWorks by Thursday, Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Information and link to ShoWorks is at https://4h.unl.edu/state-fair-livestock-exhibitor.
• CONTEST ENTRIES DUE ONLINE BY AUG. 10 — Most of the 4-H contests at the Nebraska State Fair do not require youth to participate or qualify at a county-level contest, including Weed & Grass Identification, Horticulture Judging, Tree Identification, Insect Identification, Dog Skillathon, Robotics Showcase, Culinary Challenge, Chicken BBQ and Dairy Judging. Be sure to review the eligibility requirements for each contest before entering. 4-H/FFA youth or their families must submit their contest entries online via ShoWorks by Thursday, Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Information and link to ShoWorks is at https://4h.unl.edu/state-fair-contest-participant. Note an exception: Fashion Show entries must qualify at a county-level contest, and Extension staff submit the entries. Extension Associate Kristin Geisert would like to know about Lancaster County 4-H’ers planning to enter the Robotics Showcase and Culinary Challenge — please call 402-441-7180 or email kristin.geisert@unl.edu by Monday, Aug. 7.