The Carver County Fair Exhibitor's Handbook is your guide to entering your animals or items in the fair, deadlines, and premiums paid.
View/Download the 2026 Handbook (.pdf)
Individual Exhibitor Department PDFs available below
Please note: Upon publication of this year's Exhibitor's Handbook, all previous years' Exhibitor's Handbooks are null and void.
Pre-registration is required for livestock entries.
All exhibits require an entry tag. Pre-registration allows your tags to be prepared in advance and available for you at your time of entry. We highly recommend anyone with 10 entries or more to pre-register.
Agriculture Building (Departments 17–27 & 102) and Education Building (Departments 28–30):
Wednesday, August 5, midnight
See specific division information for additional entry times after August 5.
Livestock:
Wednesday, August 5, 4:00 p.m. (Fair office)
Wednesday, August 5, midnight (online)
Note: If your exhibit requires an entry fee, you can pay it using the online registration form.
Please note: Changes have been made throughout Departments 17–27 (Agriculture Building). To avoid any confusion, please review all rules and regulations.
If you do not pre-register, you may register on-site during the drop-off times below. All exhibits require an entry tag. Please be prepared to wait while your entry is processed.
AGRICULTURE BUILDING EXHIBITS (Departments 17–27 & 102):
Entry Days:
Monday, August 10, 5 to 8 p.m.
Tuesday, August 11, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Building opens: Wednesday, noon
EDUCATION BUILDING EXHIBITS (Departments 28–30):
Entry Days:
Monday, August 10, noon to 7 p.m.
Tuesday, August 11, 8 a.m. to noon
Building opens: Wednesday, noon
All animals will be inspected by the official veterinarian the opening day of the Fair and throughout fair week. The official veterinarian will order the immediate removal to a quarantine facility or removal from the exhibition premises of any animal showing clinical signs of any infectious, contagious or communicable disease, including ringworm and warts. Any animal showing evidence of any disease, abscesses, or any open contagious lesions will not be allowed to exhibit or show and will be subject to isolation or expulsion depending on the nature and seriousness of the disease, abscess or lesion in question. If illness of any nature is suspected in any animal, said animal is subject to examination by the Official Veterinarian and Fair Superintendent and owner or exhibitor of said animal must abide by the decision of this Veterinarian and the designated Fair Superintendent. Animals with warts or ringworm may not be shown. A statement from a veterinarian that an animal is being treated for these diseases is not acceptable. Animals known by the exhibitor to have an infectious, communicable disease or to have been exposed to an infectious, communicable disease, or to be from a quarantined flock may not be entered in an exhibition.
Please read:
Minnesota Board of Animal Health – Exhibitions
Minnesota Board of Animal Health – Livestock Exhibitor Handbook
Minnesota Board of Animal Health – Official ID
Carver County Fair – Livestock Rules and Regulations
Bring more exhibits and receive a special ribbon recognition!
Each year the challenge of the competitive exhibits departments is to:
A large, colorful Special Ribbon will be awarded to individuals exhibiting the most static (non-livestock) open class exhibits within a department (one ribbon per department). For example, the individual with the most entries in Canning and Preservation (Dept. 20), Knitting & Crocheting (Dept. 24), or Baking (Dept. 21) will receive the ribbon for that department.
Find out how your entries did by visiting your exhibit at the fair.
Prizes can be claimed during the exhibit release times listed below. Feel free to contact the Superintendent for your department if you need more information.
AGRICULTURE BUILDING EXHIBITS
(Departments 17–27 & 102):
Exhibits can be picked up on:
Sunday, August 16, 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Monday, August 17, 9 a.m. to noon
NOTE: Any exhibit picked up prior to the times listed above will result in forfeiture of your premium.
EDUCATION BUILDING EXHIBITS
(Departments 28–30):
Exhibits must be picked up on:
Sunday, August 16, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
NOTE: Any exhibit picked up prior to the times listed above will result in forfeiture of your premium.
Premium checks will be available Sunday evening in the respective buildings/barns and will have a 30-day validation period. Exhibitors may have one or more checks based on the departments entered.
Checks will be issued in four groups:
4-H Dairy Cattle (Dept. 204) checks will be issued through the 4-H office.
If you're interested in exhibiting at the MN State Fair, visit www.mnstatefair.org/competitions/
The site contains detailed info regarding each department, downloadables (including premium books) and links to online registration (where applicable).