The 2024 Nebraska State Fair will be Friday, Aug. 23–Monday, Sept. 2 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 all in-person events to 8 years of age (by Jan. 1 of the current year), including animal shows, contests and the Fashion Show. This change does not affect static exhibits which are selected by judges. 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 most cases, level 1 projects are not eligible. At the Lancaster County Super Fair, a purple State Fair sticker was 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. Please contact the Extension office immediately if you do not plan to exhibit your project at the State Fair so an alternate exhibitor can be notified.
• 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, Culinary Challenge 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 Saturday, 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 submits the entries.
• 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 Friday, Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Information and link to ShoWorks is at https://4h.unl.edu/state-fair-livestock-exhibitor. Prior to signing in to the entry site, it is recommended to download Step by Step Instructions. Even if youth have exhibited at the 2023 State Fair, please click "I am a new exhibitor and have yet to register this year." It is recommended to use Chrome as your web browser.
Before registering, livestock exhibitors should also read through the General Rules and Information and Health Requirements, both updated in 2024. Note that 4-H has different entry limits for each species:
• Beef: A 4-H member is limited to exhibiting up to 5 beef
• Swine: A 4-H member is limited to exhibiting up to 6 hogs
• Sheep: A 4-H member is limited to exhibiting up to 4 sheep
• Meat Goat: A 4-H member is limited to exhibiting up to 4 goats
• Rabbit: A 4-H member is limited to exhibiting up to 6 rabbits
• Poultry: A 4-H member is limited to exhibiting 6 live bird entries (egg production trios are considered one entry). (Egg entries are not considered in the live bird limit. Egg entries are limited to one dozen per exhibitor.)