The 126th Maryland State Fair

A tradition that has been running since 1878, the 126th Maryland State Fair opened from August 24 - September 3, 2007. There were livestock shows and exhibitions of farm and garden products, and home arts.

The cow in the picture had such a straight back that it seemed weird compared to my impression of a cow. Cows from different farms were paraded at a judging ground inside the Cow Palace where they were judged based on its meat or milk.

Horse competitions were more elaborate. Some owners even braided the horse's mane and tail (akin to hairstyling a doll). Their coats were combed and cleaned off any dirt by air brush and wet cloths. This horse's coat was combed to a precise angle (L.O.L) and it gleamed under sunlight. While I was busying snapping pictures of horses from the front, someone approached me and said I should take horses from the side instead as horses appeared to look like giraffes from the front according to his theory. Well, I can differentiate a horse from a giraffe by a giraffe's horns.

Competitions were also held for swine, goat and sheep.

The Animal World was a big favorite among children where they got to pat farm animals such as sheep, goat, duck etc. All signboards for the animals were correct except one which had a comical twist. A cow had a signboard saying, "Beef" instead of "Cow". I had a good laugh at this since it reminded me of a sweeping remark that Chinese would eat anything that fly, crawl or swim.

After visiting the livestock shows, I headed for exhibitions of farm products. I witnessed the largest watermelon I had seen so far where it weighed 77 pounds (35 kg). Tomatoes, chillies, gourds, corns etc were submitted for competitions too.

People interested in indoor hobbies could hop over to the exhibition of home arts. Among the displays were quilts, knitting, fine arts, food preservation, baked products and photogrpahy. I was also impressed by some of the photographs captured by young contestants.

There were rides and games for young and old. After touring the fairground for about five hours, I was tired but culturally enriched.

More fair pictures available here.