AUGUST
Howard County Fair
Admission: $10
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Admission: $12 to $15, kids 11 and under free
Pro tip: It’s more fun–and less hot–at night.And don’t miss the pig races.
Prince William County Fair
Admission: $25, kids $15
Pro tip: Check out the crazyhouse of mirrors.
Clarke County Fair
Admission: $10, kids free to $5
Arlington County Fair
Admission: Free
Maryland State Fair
Admission: $15, kids five and under free
Back to Top
SEPTEMBER
DC State Fair
Admission: Free
Charles County Fair
Admission: $10
State Fair of Virginia
Admission: $12 and up
Back to Top
OCTOBER
Stafford County Fair
Admission: Free
Crazy Fair Food
Deep-fried Oreos. Funnel cake. Corn dogs. Part of the fun at state and county fairs is the booths serving up sometimes wacky, not always healthy food.
While the offerings at our area fairs might seem tame compared with stuff that’s been dished out in Iowa (deep-fried sticks of butter), Kansas (pickle popsicles), and Minnesota (Spam curds), here are a few unusual items you might see at this region’s fairs.
Krispy Kreme cheeseburger
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Maple-bacon iced tea
Maryland State Fair
Soybean doughnuts
State Fair of Virginia
Deep-fried watermelon balls
Maryland State Fair
Crabcake egg rolls
Maryland State Fair
Prize Winners
Two state-fair champions on their winning ways.
Jason Loris
Butternut-Squash Champ
State Fair of Virginia
When Jason Loris won the prize for heaviest butternut squash at the State Fair of Virginia last year, he didn’t just beat out local competitors. His 131.4-pound behemoth became a Guinness-approved world-record breaker. (As for whether he ate it? Loris confessed: “I don’t really like butternut squash that much.”)
Exercising his green thumb since age 12, the Amissville resident has grown plenty of other vegetables in his 2,500-square-foot home garden, including an 18-foot-tall sunflower, a 147-pound watermelon, and four-and-a-half-pound tomatoes. This year, he aims to grow a 1,000-pound pumpkin. “I’ll be driven to push for more records,” says Loris, who documents his gardening on TikTok and Instagram (@giantgardens) and has even acquired sponsors. “I’ve revamped my whole system that I’m doing to go on a bigger scale.”
A professional contractor, Loris estimates he spends up to eight hours a day in the dirt. As he puts it, “Gardening for me doesn’t stop.”
Drew Lenhart
Honey and Wax Champion
Maryland State Fair
Drew Lenhart is something of a king bee when it comes to the honey competitions at state fairs around the area. First getting into beekeeping in 2019 (“I felt that honey would make some excellent Christmas gifts,” he says), the Urbana resident, who works as an engineer, has amassed a desk-drawerful of blue ribbons, including for grand-champion honey-and-wax exhibitor at the Maryland State Fair in 2022 and 2023.
What sets his entries apart? It’s in the details, says Lenhart. For one thing, he keeps his equipment sparkling-clean to avoid impurities. He also takes his sweet time, slowly pouring his honey into jars that then settle in a heated tank. As a result, the honey “is so clear you can hold your hand on the other side of the jar and see all the little lines in your fingers,” says Lenhart, who has fond memories of observing the bees on display at the Great Frederick Fair when he was a kid.
Today he puts his own colony on view and visits local beekeeping groups, encouraging others to enter. He welcomes the competition: “It spurs innovation, and it makes us all better.”
AUGUST
Howard County Fair
Admission: $10
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Admission: $12 to $15, kids 11 and under free
Pro tip: It’s more fun–and less hot–at night.And don’t miss the pig races.
Prince William County Fair
Admission: $25, kids $15
Pro tip: Checkout the crazyhouse of mirrors.
Clarke County Fair
Admission: $10, kids free to $5
Arlington County Fair
Admission: Free
Maryland State Fair
Admission: $15, kids five and under free
Back to Top
SEPTEMBER
DC State Fair
Admission: Free
Charles County Fair
Admission: $10
State Fair of Virginia
Admission: $12 and up
Back to Top
OCTOBER
Stafford County Fair
Admission: Free
Crazy Fair Food
Deep-fried Oreos. Funnel cake. Corn dogs. Part of the fun at state and county fairs is the booths serving up sometimes wacky, not always healthy food.
While the offerings at our area fairs might seem tame compared with stuff that’s been dished out in Iowa (deep-fried sticks of butter), Kansas (pickle popsicles), and Minnesota (Spam curds), here are a few unusual items you might see at this region’s fairs.
Krispy Kreme cheeseburger
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Maple-bacon iced tea
Maryland State Fair
Soybean doughnuts
State Fair of Virginia
Deep-fried watermelon balls
Maryland State Fair
Crabcake egg rolls
Maryland State Fair
Prize Winners
Two state-fair champions on their winning ways.
Jason Loris
Butternut-Squash Champ
State Fair of Virginia
When Jason Loris won the prize for heaviest butternut squash at the State Fair of Virginia last year, he didn’t just beat out local competitors. His 131.4-pound behemoth became a Guinness-approved world-record breaker. (As for whether he ate it? Loris confessed: “I don’t really like butternut squash that much.”)
Exercising his green thumb since age 12, the Amissville resident has grown plenty of other vegetables in his 2,500-square-foot home garden, including an 18-foot-tall sunflower, a 147-pound watermelon, and four-and-a-half-pound tomatoes. This year, he aims to grow a 1,000-pound pumpkin. “I’ll be driven to push for more records,” says Loris, who documents his gardening on TikTok and Instagram (@giantgardens) and has even acquired sponsors. “I’ve revamped my whole system that I’m doing to go on a bigger scale.”
A professional contractor, Loris estimates he spends up to eight hours a day in the dirt. As he puts it, “Gardening for me doesn’t stop.”
Drew Lenhart
Honey and Wax Champion
Maryland State Fair
Drew Lenhart is something of a king bee when it comes to the honey competitions at state fairs around the area. First getting into beekeeping in 2019 (“I felt that honey would make some excellent Christmas gifts,” he says), the Urbana resident, who works as an engineer, has amassed a desk-drawerful of blue ribbons, including for grand-champion honey-and-wax exhibitor at the Maryland State Fair in 2022 and 2023.
What sets his entries apart? It’s in the details, says Lenhart. For one thing, he keeps his equipment sparkling-clean to avoid impurities. He also takes his sweet time, slowly pouring his honey into jars that then settle in a heated tank. As a result, the honey “is so clear you can hold your hand on the other side of the jar and see all the little lines in your fingers,” says Lenhart, who has fond memories of observing the bees on display at the Great Frederick Fair when he was a kid.
Today he puts his own colony on view and visits local beekeeping groups, encouraging others to enter. He welcomes the competition: “It spurs innovation, and it makes us all better.”
