DC State Fair
State fair celebrating the homegrown talents and pride of the District of Columbia
DC may not be a state (yet!), but that doesn’t stop us from having our own state fair. There are no rides or butter cows, but the DC State Fair is a celebration of the diverse community that calls DC home. The DC State Fair began in 2010 as part of the Columbia Heights Day neighborhood festival. Since then, it has been held in Adams Morgan, Barracks Row, Shaw, and NoMa. Most recently, in 2017 it was held in Waterfront. Residents can show off their neighborhood love with posters from Victory Dance Creative.
The DC State Fair is run entirely by volunteers and as a nonprofit. Despite this, the fair is free to attend with a full schedule of contests, demonstrations, and entertainment. The food trucks and beer tent ensure attendees don’t go hungry or thirsty.
More people live in DC than in the states of Vermont or Wyoming, but the area of DC is less than 70 square miles. Local businesses are on hand to help you show your DC pride through art, apparel, and home goods. Bailiwick Clothing is a great option for threads that represent the District (and are Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Bryce Harper approved). [This is not a paid endorsement – I just really love my own 51st State t-shirt!]
While many of the contests are common to other state fairs (like pie baking and best tomato), others reflect the unique culture of DC. These include best mumbo sauce and best DC-themed tattoo. Some of the contests require advance registration but others, like Double Dutch, you can enter by just showing up.
In lieu of livestock exhibitions, the DC State Fair has fun events for pets like a parade, costume contest, best fetcher, and longest sit-stay. I personally find the parade to have too little participation to be enjoyable (to my extreme disappointment), but the other events ensure there are cute animals around doing other cute things. For families, in addition to the animal events, there are also plenty of other activities to keep the kids entertained.
Each year the DC State Fair gets a bit larger and includes more activities. I’m looking forward to seeing how it continues to grow and find new ways to reflect this city and its residents.
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Address
Varies. In 2019, the DC State Fair was held at Gateway DC in Southeast.
Metro Station
Varies depending on the location of the DC State Fair each year.
In 2019:
- Congress Heights (GR)
Cost
Free
Hours
August/September annually
September 8, 2019 from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Length of Adventure
1-2 hours
