Grow, Create, Compete: Showcase Your Garden at the 2025 Clay County Fair
Spencer, Iowa — Get ready to grow, create, and compete at the 2025 Clay County Fair, powered by SMU, September 6-14. Whether you’re a backyard gardener or floral artist, the Fields & Gardens and Floriculture Departments offer something for every green thumb.
Fields & Gardens: More Than Just Vegetables
The Fields & Gardens Department is where creativity and agriculture come together. With over fifteen diverse divisions, this Department features everything from impressive produce to imaginative displays, perfect for gardeners and crafty creators.
One of the Department’s most iconic competitions, the Best 10 Ears of Corn Contest, continues to draw fierce competition each year. Exhibitors can also aim for bragging rights in the popular County Champion and District Champion Grower classes.
New for 2025: get ready for the Tallest Sunflower Contest, which is joining the popular Tallest Corn Stalk Contest. Also debuting this year is the Largest Red Tomato category, rounding out a crowd-favorite lineup that includes the Largest Pumpkin and Largest Potato competitions.
Beyond growing, exhibitors are encouraged to get creative. You can decorate a pumpkin, build an unusual garden scarecrow, or curate a basket of vegetables that represents the pride of your entire garden.
Whether you’re growing vegetables, root crops, fruits, or crafting a creative display—the Fields & Gardens Department is your place to shine this September.
Floriculture: Where Blooms Take Center Stage
With over 100 divisions, the Floriculture Department at the 2025 Clay County Fair is bursting with opportunities for flower lovers of all ages. Exhibitors, both youth and adults, can enter everything from roses and dahlias to gourds, annuals, perennials, and floral design competitions.
This year’s floral design themes promise to inspire creativity, with several competitions drawing inspiration from classic films, setting the stage for imaginative and eye-catching entries.
Floriculture at the Fair is not just a one-time event. Five flower shows will occur throughout the nine-day Fair, each offering new themes and divisions. A fan favorite, Show Five on September 13-14, will highlight the dazzling variety of dahlias.
Whether you’re a seasoned floral designer or just beginning your journey into the world of blooms, the Floriculture Department offers the perfect platform to showcase your artistry and passion.
Open class entries are open to anyone from any county or state. Exhibitors are encouraged to check out the 2025 Exhibitor Handbooks for each Department to find the rules and guidelines for their entries. Exhibitor Handbooks can be found online at www.claycountyfair.com or picked up in the Fair Administrative Office. Pre-registration for all Fields & Gardens and Floriculture entries is encouraged and can be completed online, by mail, or in person by Monday, August 4. Exhibitors also have the option to register their entries before judging. Fields & Gardens entries will be accepted at the Fields & Gardens Building on Wednesday, September 3 (5:00 pm-8:00 pm) or Thursday, September 4 (9:00 am-5:00 pm). Floriculture exhibitors should review the Floriculture Exhibitor Handbook to see when entries will be received during the Clay County Fair.
About the Clay County Fair & Events Center – Rooted in Tradition, the Clay County Fair and Events Center is a year-round facility that hosts more than 300 events annually, including its signature event, the Clay County Fair, powered by SMU. Known as “The World’s Greatest County Fair” since 1917, the Fair attracts more than 300,000 guests each September for nine days of world-class entertainment, competition, food, fun, and the largest farm machinery show at any fair in the United States. For more information, visit claycountyfair.com.
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