Why do people compete in the Colorado State Fair? For some it’s continuing tradition, for others it means trying new things

It's time to find out who in Colorado is the best at all kinds of skills, talents and creativity.

Baking, fine arts, livestock shows and more – people of all ages vie for blue ribbons in hundreds of different competitions at the Colorado State Fair, which opens Friday at the fairgrounds in Pueblo and runs through Labor Day.

Why compete at the fair? KRCC asked and here’s what we heard

Agricultural shows are perhaps one of the more iconic aspects of the state fair, which runs for 11 days and attracts around a half a million attendees most years. Often people think of young people exhibiting their steers, goats and swine during the 4-H and Future Farmers of America shows. But there are adult competitions too.

This year, Erin Michalski of Jefferson, Colorado will be riding in six events as part of the Versatility Ranch Horse competition. It tests the horse and rider on their abilities to work with cattle and perform tasks and skills needed on a ranch.

Michalski, who serves on the State Fair Board and State Fair Foundation board, said she thinks it's important to promote agriculture and showcase the western lifestyle to folks who don’t know much about it.

She says it helps bridge the urban and rural divide that sometimes exists due to what she called misconceptions about agriculture and the differences between ranch life and city life.

Happy Trails Co./Greg F Moore

“The two worlds really need each other to survive and coexist,” she said. And to be “mutually respected in a mutually beneficial way for both ways of living.”

Michalski has been showing at the fair since age 11.

“It was something special I could do with my mom every year,” she said. “I looked forward to it every single year and now it's something special I can do with my own daughter, which is something that just feels like it's come full circle and is extremely rewarding for me.”

Her daughter is competing in 4-H events this year and the family has also entered their Timothy grass hay grown at her parents’ Eagle Rock Ranch into the hay competition. 

Family tradition and togetherness is an important part of competing at the fair

Courtesy of Paula Piserchio Lucey

Pueblo native Paula Piserchio Lucey, now of Lakewood, learned to make the traditional Slovenian rolled pastry called potica from her grandmother, Gramma Lou.

Gramma Lou’s honey walnut potica was “beautiful to behold,” according to Lucey. It was like no other she had ever seen, with more than a dozen spirals and a superior flavor and texture. Decades ago, Lucey spent the day with her Gramma Lou learning to make potica and wrote down the recipe that resided only in her grandmother's head.

Lucey practiced making the sweet treat quite a few times before she got it right, and finally in 1990 she entered a loaf into the pantry competition at the fair and took first place. Gramma Lou died not long after.

“My goodbye to her included putting my blue ribbon in her casket."

- Paula Piserchio Lucey

Courtesy of Paula Piserchio Lucey

Now Lucey’s daughter Sarah, along with Sarah’s children, make Gramma Lou’s potica, so the family feels confident the tradition will continue. Both Lucey and Sarah have each entered a loaf of potica in the Round the World Baked Goods competition at the state fair this year. 

“I hope both of us win a ribbon in honor of Gramma Lou,” she said.

Baking together as a family is also important to Reddit user mhiaa173 who posted on Reddit in response to KRCC’s query. She wrote that she is planning to enter chocolate chip cookies and star bread in the baking competition this year, along with her 8-year-old granddaughter, who is making chocolate chip and sugar cookies. They’ve been practicing this summer.

“My grandmother and my mom were fantastic bakers, and I love passing on this tradition to my daughter and granddaughter,” mhiaa173 said.

She also said in her online comment that she wants to show them “that competition can be fun.”

The creative arts are a big part of the competitions at the fair too

Colorado Springs artist Dale Mueller Smith entered a piece in the fine arts division.

“I'm a nontraditional conceptual fiber artist, which means I'm interested in the idea behind it just as much as I am the finished product,” she said. “I see fiber in barbed wire, screen, wire and hardware cloth.”

Those are the materials, not often found in quilting, that she used to make her state fair entry, which she described as a large quilt made of 12 three-dimensional blocks depicting poppies. “It’s about making something beautiful out of difficulty,” she said. 

Mueller Smith has never entered in a competition at the state fair before.

“I've always wanted to and I decided this was my time,” she said. “It has been an honor to be juried into this particular show.”

Mixed media artist and first-time state fair competitor Renee Zink wrote that she took months to create and add details to the two pieces she entered.

“I've been going to the fair for most of my life,” she said. “As an art lover, I've always wanted to be a part of the show!”

Although she expected the entry process to be hard, it wasn’t, she wrote.

“I'm so happy I did it,” she said.

San Luis Valley photographer Patrick Payne wrote about his state fair entry — an image of  a roadside memorial at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that he titled, "Bury Me On The Lone Prairie."

He said the title was inspired by the traditional ballad as it was performed by Roy Rogers & Dale Evans which “evokes the life of the roaming cowboy who lived life wandering the West; his final wish to be buried as he lived in the wide-open spaces under the ever-changing sky, at night beneath a canopy of stars, gazing at the vast universe.”

It’s also the first time Pueblo artist Bart Mikitowicz submitted an entry in the State Fair Fine Arts competition. He wrote he doesn’t expect to win, but he hopes to get some more exposure for his work by having it on display.

Crocheter Brooke Albright told us that she competes in needle arts every year. “I enjoy the competition, as it rewards me for my hard work,” she wrote. “I look forward to (it) every year!”

She said she won the best of show in the 2022 state fair needle arts competition with a crocheted blanket.

Bonnie Western now lives in Gig Harbor, Wash. but wrote that she grew up going to the fair and taking part in the dance performances. “My best memories are from the mid-late '50's,” she said. “I took dance lessons from Nelda Johnson (in Pueblo) and many summers we would perform during the day at one of the venues. It was fun to watch the audience, and between shows we were free to look around at the exhibits.”

Competitions are judged throughout the fair and some have already started.

The Colorado State Fair runs through Labor Day. The 11-day event typically attracts about a half a million visitors. They’ll eat festival fried foods, listen to music, check out the carnival and yes — enjoy the talents, skills and passions of their fellow Coloradans during the many competitions.

Editor's note: Gramma Lou’s potica recipe proved that it is, indeed, excellent as evidenced by Paula Lucey and her daughter Sarah Lucey sweeping the first two places respectively in the “Round the World Baked Goods - Potica” competition. Dale Mueller Smith took third place in the Professional Fiber Art category with her piece: Summer Covers: Poppies & Pricks.