Please Support Your County Fair!
Decorating By BlakesCakes Updated 18 Aug 2006 , 5:34am by moydear77
This week, I entered the Lake County Ohio fair for the first time. I received a 1st Place Blue Ribbon for my entry, but it was a hollow victory--no other cakes were entered in the category 
As a matter of fact, there were only 10 cakes total entered-across 6 categories-and no professionals ientered any cakes in their 4 categories.
Please, if you have even a slight competitive streak, find your area county/state fairs and put in an entry. I'm afraid that these wonderful old fashioned summer traditions will be dropped if people don't support them!
If you are in a Wilton class, why not try to get the entire group to enter their final cakes? Give all of those judges something to look at and enjoy!
Here's a website that lists all of the fairs in OH counties:
http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/pubs/divs/fair/fair-index.stm#County
Perhaps those from other states could find other web addresses and post them.
Let's show the country all of the great talent on CC 
Rae
I would love to find out about the county fairs in Houston, Tx. What do you input to search for them around my area?
Congratulations on the blue ribbon!!!
Hi, Barbara-Ann.
I googled: county fairs texas and came up with this:
http://www.texasfairs.com/calendar.html
There were some others below this that might be helpful, too. I didn't check to see if any of them had cake decorating contests, but I'd bet that some do. I don't know my Texas geography very well, so I wouldn't even know which listings to check out--sorry.
Thanks and good luck!
Rae
Thanks, BlakesCakes. It will give me a great starting place.
Congratulations!
I agree too about entering local fairs. I entered this year and got grand prize, 1st place and 3rd place with my entries. I thought there could have been more entries but maybe some people are not aware. I didn't know about cake decorating contests at the fair until I came across it looking through last year's booklet. I missed the deadline but I marked my calendar to remind me for this year. I also entered an amateur flower arranging contest. It was fun! Something to look forward to each year.
After seeing many posts here about county fairs I looked into ours and it was like 5 days away from when I checked and to a newbie at cakes that was cutting it way too close for me lol. But next year I fully intend to enter & win. I figure after a year with you guys I should definitely get a blue ribbon
Here's aare two links for Pennsylvania
http://www.expocentral.com/agriculture/us_fairs/US_Fairs_Pennsylvania.html
http://www.countyfairgrounds.net/pennsylvania/pennsylvania.html
Great idea!! Here is a link for Missouri.
http://www.countyfairgrounds.net/missouri/missouri.html
But im not up to competition level by ANY means yet! LOL
I'm entering our fair with canning and bread making. As far as I know they don't have a cake entry either.
I never even thought about fairs until I joined this site. Do they have separate categories for "professionals"? (using the term loosely but just assuming since I'm a business, they wouldn't let me compete with the 4H-er's!) How does it work? Since reading about them here, I am so interested now!
I know the fairs around me have cake entries, because I saw them at the fair. But I haven't been able to find any info on who to contact or how to go about entering a cake? I live in Santa barbara County in California. Does anyone have any info?
I was just in the CA State Fair and I got First Place (Blue Ribbon), Best of Class and Best of Division..
Based on my experience, State Fairs have more entries and
offers more of a challenge and I like that. I was in the County Fair last May, and it didn't feel as exciting. But I'm glad some people like entering.
where is the California State fair? I would love to try to enter next year.
In Sacramento..it's going on right now at CAL Expo. until Sept. 4th.
I love going there...so much fun. 
Butterflyjuju--are you near Tulsa???
If you are, you can enter the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show that is held during the fair--Sept 2
ct 8 this year! That show isn't just for the biggies--it has entry levels from children to masters and categories from novelty cakes to wedding cakes.
It can be worth entering just to see how the process works and what other people present. Even if you don't enter, if this show is close to you or you're able to make a trip to see it--GO!
I can't get there this year, but next year, I'm hoping to at least see it, if not enter--all the way from Cleveland, OH!
Rae
Yes Tulsa is about an hour's drive for me. I think I'll go see it this year. Didn't even know there was one...lol. I'll scope it out.
If you're like me, you go to the State Fair but rarely if ever go look at the exhibits. I didn't even know they had a decorated cakes division until last year. I always had it in my mind that it was just for food people made and it was judged on taste. But sure enough, they do a decorated cakes division too. Or at least in Arizona they do. I entered last year not knowing what to expect, who would enter, how many would enter or even what calibur of decorator would enter.
I'd been coming here to Cake Central for several months by then so I guess I assumed anyone entering the State Fair with a decorated cake would be the calibur of decorating I see here. Wrong! I'd say at least 90% of the cakes were not at all what I expected. 
Most of them I assumed were done by young children but come to find out they were done by adults and there was a seperate catagory for children. It wasn't pretty to say the least.
I did end up winning 1st place and a special award winner rosette ribbon too and of course I was thrilled to pieces. It was my first time ever entering a cake in a competition. At the risk of sounding snobby ( and I'm not really, I promise 
)but it was a little hollow feeling too knowing there really wasn't any competition.
So I say ENTER THOSE CAKES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!
KimAZ
I looked into last year but I read that if you make any money doing cakes that you were not eliglble to enter. Strange huh! I cannot rememebr how it was worded but it did not even mean having a business. They do not have just a decorated cake category----They havd a tasting and decorating category. I am just swamped and would love to add some ribbons to my wall---Hopefully I will from OSSAS!
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