This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Scott Stoller’s name.

While it won’t be the same as all the years prior, the Colorado State Fair is still coming soon. 

The Colorado State Fair Board of Authority recently voted to hold a variety of competitive activities physically at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, in addition to many virtual events as part of a “reimagined” 2020 event, planned for Aug. 28-Sept. 7. 

Scott Stoller, general manager for the Colorado State Fair, said that as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to worsen, the State Fair team had to design what the fair would look like this year, eventually coming up with the plan that they have now. 

“It really brings the fair back to what it’s core is,” Stoller said. “When you think back to the late 1800s when the State Fair started, it really was about the agriculture and the youth programs. The fair board made a conscious decision to focus on as much as we can do of that this year.” 

On-site competitions include the 4-H Dog Show, 4-H Rocket Fly Day and livestock events, among many others. The primary goal of holding these competitions is to support Colorado’s youth in 4-H and Future Farmers of America, while staying in close coordination with local and state health officials. Noller said that almost every 4-H and FFA-related show was able to be figured out while adhering to safety guidelines.

Events will not be open to the public and will operate with strict indoor and outdoor health protocols, such as limiting guests accompanying youth competitors. Stoller said that shows have been planned and arranged in a way that has built-in social distancing. Face coverings are mandatory, and there will be temperature check stations and pledges that ask participants to adhere to social distancing and safety rules.

The public can watch the live stream of proceedings on the State Fair website. 

The public has also been invited to attend the Drive-Thru Fair Food event on Aug. 28-31, as well as participate in the Colorado State Fair Foundation’s annual Youth in Ag Golf Tournament on Aug. 28 at the Walking Stick Golf course. 

For those wishing to compete but not attend on-site, the Colorado State Fair has encouraged all Coloradans to participate in virtual competitions, which include the Garden Harvest Competition, Pet Photo Contest, Talent Show Competition and Vast, Great Outdoors Photo Contest.  

“We had this video platform that fell into our lap and we just started building on it; trying to do activities that were in the spirit of what the State Fair is, to remind people of what the future holds and what the past was,” Noller said.

Even before the pandemic, the event had seen more than its fair share of troubles: an audit in 2019 found the Colorado State Fair facing an average $4 million deficit each year.

Despite the difficulties that came with planning the 2020 Colorado State Fair, Stoller said there is something special to this year’s proceedings.

“We all know what we can’t do during COVID-19 and we know that large public gatherings are probably the last thing that are going to be allowed to happen,” he said. “We really focused on what we can do. We are working with best practices but we are keeping the mission going forward. The fair was canceled in 1917 and that was an option, but I don’t know if it is in our DNA here to do nothing, so we really wanted to do as much as we can do.”