Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is visiting with Brandi Herndon about the 2023 Tulsa State Fair coming up on September 28 through October 8.
“We are excited to welcome our guests to 11 days of awesome,” Herndon said. “We are starting out this first weekend with a lot of our open shows.”
Numbers in the open cattle shows are up, Herndon said, as exhibitors have traveled as far as Florida to exhibit their animals this year. The open and junior sheep breeding shows will be this weekend, Herndon added, along with the junior breeding guilt show.
The fair will kick off on the 28th with a cattle grading contest.
“It is the state championship for the cattle grading for 4-H and FFA,” Herndon said. “We will have over 1800 kids here participating in that.”
On Monday, October 2, Herndon said market animals will begin moving into the showgrounds.
“The big highlight in the next week on Wednesday, October 4, is our Night of Champions, where 150 of those exhibitors within our market animal shows will ‘make the stage’ at the Tulsa State Fair and be presented their project scholarship awards,” Herndon said. “We have a lot of great donors that support that evening and support the 4-H and FFA youth, and we are very grateful for them.”
Looking into the last weekend of the Tulsa State Fair, Herndon said there will be a collegiate livestock judging contest, a 4-H and FFA livestock judging contest, and a junior breeding heifer show.
“The two largest shows as far as entrees go are for sure our junior guilt show along with our junior breeding heifer show,” Herndon said.
Herndon was able to talk in more detail regarding the Night of Champions and said by not having a traditional livestock auction where exhibitors sell their animals, hosting the Night of Champions allows them to be awarded, and continue showing those animals at other shows after the Tulsa State Fair.
“We select all of our grands live that night in front of all of our guests and our donors,” Herndon said. “We want to make it exciting not only for the kids but for our donors as well in a fun-filled evening where we celebrate the kids as well as our donors.”
Anyone is welcome to attend the Night of Champions at 6 p.m. at Ford Truck Arena in Tulsa.
