Fairs and Exhibits

Exhibiting Your Work
All counties provide an opportunity for 4-H members to display their work. It may be a "show day" or a fair. Check to see when and where you can show what you have made in 4-H.

Illinois State Fair
Statewide, 4-H members can exhibit at the Illinois State Fair.

Illinois State Fair Junior Department
The Junior Department offers Illinois 4-H members opportunities to take part in the Illinois State Fair. The purpose of the Junior Department is to provide youth participants with the opportunity to accomplish the following objectives:

• Participate in a quality educational experience through interaction with experts in a given project field
• Exhibit the products and skills of their project work
• Showcase the talents of individual participants and the 4-H programs.

Junior Department Animal Shows
4-H members may exhibit in the areas of beef, sheep, swine, dairy, goats, poultry, rabbits, dogs, and/or horses. Exhibitors must be enrolled or registered in the specific animal species within the 4-H program in order to exhibit at the State Fair. Exhibitors in beef, sheep, swine, dairy, and horses must also have completed a certified Quality Assurance and Ethics Clinic, (prior to 1999) or the QAEC web site program before exhibiting their first time at the State Fair. Specific deadlines for completion are set each year.

Members must be 10 years of age by September 1, 2003 in order to exhibit at the 2004 State Fair. Members must not have passed their 19th birthday by September 1, 2003.

Entries for Junior Animal Shows must be posted on an official State Fair entry form, available from local Extension offices in June. All animal entries except dogs and horse are due to the State Fair office by July 1. Dog entries are due by August 1. Horse entries may have an earlier June deadline.

The Superior Young Producer Scholarship Program is open to exhibitors in the following species: horses, beef, sheep, swine, and dairy. Exhibitors must be 16 years of age to participate in the horse program and 14 years of age to participate in the other species. Scholarships are awarded based on knowledge and skills demonstrated in different contests within the species. These contests may include some or all of the following: live animal judging, skill-a-thon, management test, and showmanship.

General Exhibits at the Illinois State Fair
4-H members have the opportunity to exhibit in numerous other project areas at the State Fair. Exhibits must have been selected at a local 4-H show in order to be accepted for exhibit at the state level. Entries in these classes must be made by local Extension offices. Members must be 10 years of age and must not have passed their 19th birthday by September 1, 2003 in order to exhibit at the 2004 State Fair.

Changes in the general 4-H project exhibit area for 2004 allow 4-H members to exhibit in two classes – one “static” class where the exhibit must arrive in Springfield prior to the fair for judging and one “action-oriented” class that would take place on the Regional Exhibit Days. Judging for the action-oriented exhibits will take place on one of five Regional Exhibit Days; county delegates are to exhibit on the assigned Regional Day as noted below. Action-oriented exhibits include:

• Public Presentations
• Bicycle Rodeo
• Fashion Revue
• Food Demonstrations
• Food Skill-a-thons
• Club/Group Displays (Public Adventures, Theater Arts, Walk in My Shoes, & Intercultural only)
• Chicken BBQ Cooking Contest

The five University of Illinois Extension Regional Exhibit Days are:

All other general projects will be on display from Friday, August 13 through Sunday, August 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Jr. Home Economics Building and University of Illinois Extension Building on the state fairgrounds.

Youth selected for exhibiting at the State Fair should contact their local Extension office for additional rules for exhibiting, dates for project delivery or action-oriented judging schedules. Counties generally have this information in January. State Fair premium information is available through the Extension offices in May or by clicking on the Illinois State Fair website at: http://www.agr.state.il.us/isf/index.php or http://www.agr.state.il.us/isf/premium/index.html

About 4-H | Projects | Special Opportunities | News & Events | Staff | Links