GALLERY: Your guide to the competitive arts at the 2025 Utah State Fair

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — One of the best things about the State Fair is seeing all the art and food that people have entered into the competitions, and there are a lot of different competitions this year with some new classes, so here’s a rundown on all the competitive exhibits.

The competitive exhibits or departments include culinary arts, photography, floriculture, fine arts, fiber arts, creative arts, horticulture, and agriculture, and they’ve grown significantly since last year.

“Last year, we got over 5,300 entries between 4H, FFA, and what we call open, which is everything other than those two,” Manager of Competitive Arts and Programs Sakura Gallegos told ABC4.com. “This year, we’re on track to get around 6,000, and so it’s grown quite a bit.”

Gallegos said that another unique thing about this year is that they’ve chosen to honor a fairgoer. Her name is Eldean Muir. “She has won 20 blue ribbons for 20 years of entries. These are some of her entries,” Gallegos said, gesturing to the wreaths on the table. “She’s 96 years old, so we’ve decided to spotlight her this year.”

Muir makes pinecone wreaths and baskets, and she still lives on her own. In 2001, she made her first pinecone wreath that she entered in the state fair, and she won best of show. She kept entering her art, and she has won every year since.

Gallegos said that she has big plans for next year too. She’s planning to highlight an artist like Muir in each department next year, and she also wants to add a gemstone, rock, and crystal department. She’s also hoping to bring more artists to the fair to offer demonstrations and workshops for fairgoers.

Breaking down the competitions

Each department has divisions based on age, including children, youth, junior, adult, senior, and special artist. Special artists, disabled artists, and their artwork is related to their disability in some way. It’s unique to have an opportunity to see art created by people of all ages at the fair, and it’s all mixed together in the buildings where it is displayed, so you can see a child’s art next to a professional.

Creative arts may have the most variety out of any other category, with almost 18 sections. You can find leatherworks, woodworks, models, metalworks, paper crafts, jewelry, ceramics, and plenty of others. There are also a few new sections this year, including dolls, oddities, and STEM.

“The nice thing about creative arts is obviously all kinds of art is entered, but every piece of art is judged and displayed. We don’t jury out any of the art in here,” Gallegos said.

You can find creative arts in the Promontory Building, and if you’re browsing the creative arts section, you can also find this year’s butter cow sculpture. We won’t spoil it, but it features Utah’s newest professional sport.

Fiber arts include entries made with different crafts like crochet, quilting, knitting, and many more. You can read a more in-depth piece about this year’s fiber arts exhibit here. It includes some new categories as well, including weaving and felting.

One unique competition within fiber arts is the quilt challenge. “You actually purchase your quilt squares this year, you make it up, and you turn it in the next year,” Gallegos explained. The quilts from the challenge on display all feature the same fabric from last year.

Fiber arts are located in the Pioneer Building this year.

The Bonneville Building is housing the Fine Arts entries. No photos of those entries are allowed, so we can’t preview them for you here. You’ll just have to go see for yourself! The fine arts sections include oil and acrylic, watercolor, pastels, bronze sculpture, and more.

You can find photography entries in the upstairs of the Grand Building, and photography has an open section, a fine art section, a black and white section, and a section for photos taken with a cell phone.

Entries in the culinary arts category include home canning and baked goods, such as homemade candy, breads, desserts, cakes, and muffins. There are also a number of cookoffs and food competitions, which are located in the Zion building this year after it was renovated to include a new kitchen.

Floriculture involves all things plants. You can find potted plants, cut flowers, roses, and artistic design entries. There is also a new category this year for commercial florists. Horticulture is all about fruits–apples, peaches, nectarines, pears, grapes, honey, and more. Agriculture has the veggies, like corn, peas and beans, potatoes, gourds, etc.

Floriculture is housed in the Heritage Building, and Horticulture and Agriculture are located in the Agriculture Building.

The Utah State Fair is running from September 4 to September 14 at the Utah State Fairpark. You can buy tickets and get more information about the fair on their website here.