WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – County fair staffs are planning for no COVID-related restrictions this year as they prepare for the start of the fair season.

“We’re looking forward to fairs going off as they were prior (to COVID),” said Tony Carrell, Purdue University Extension specialist for Indiana 4-H youth development. “At this point, there are no restrictions. There were some good practices used during COVID, such as extra hand sanitizer, that make sense to continue. Prior to COVID, we did not think about it. These are ways to eliminate biosecurity threats to people and animals. It will be a local decision about what things might be used.”

First and foremost, fair officials will be looking out for the safety of students and adults in the program, he noted. County fairs will follow guidelines and recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Indiana State Department of Health and Purdue University.

The county fair season in Indiana begins next month, with most fairs opening in June and July. One – Lake County – is in August. The season wraps up with the DeKalb County Free Fall Fair in September.

“It’s safe to say everybody is looking forward to having a sense of normalcy again,” Carrell said. “Not only the staff, but the young people, parents, volunteers and everybody involved. We’re looking forward to the smiles when people come to the county fairs and the state fair this year. Having no restrictions in place brings a big sense of excitement and enjoyment.”

Last year, some county fairs opted to livestream certain 4-H competitive events. Carrell said the option was popular and said fairs are encouraged to offer it when possible. “It’s a local decision,” he noted. “Some fairs might not have bandwidth available to accommodate livestreaming at their fairgrounds.”

All county fairs are being planned as in-person events, Carrell said. For young people who aren’t able to exhibit in person, a virtual exhibit option may be available, he added.

Statewide, two new 4-H projects – creative writing, and construction and architectural replica – have been added for 2022. In addition, fine arts, needle point and model building, which had been classes within the general arts and crafts category, have been elevated to the project level, Carrell said.

In Indiana, a majority – 55-60 percent – of 4-H participants have at least one animal exhibit during the fair, he added.

“The 4-H program was overhauled since last year’s fair,” Carrell explained. “For one, they wanted to have more consistency in the projects. They wanted to remove barriers for participation.”

To help remove those barriers, officials changed the rules for most projects, he said. An exhibit may be whatever a 4-H member wants as long as it’s related to the project and is age and grade appropriate, he noted.

The four components officials hope students get out of 4-H are a sense of belonging, independence, a sense of generosity and developing mastery, Carrell said.

Participation in 4-H in the state was falling before COVID, he said, noting the program was losing about 1,000-1,500 students annually. There are about 45,000 students currently in the state’s club and project portion of 4-H, down from 52,000 during 2019-2020.

“We’ve had quite a dip since COVID,” Carrell explained. “We need to work to bring that number up. We haven’t been able to go out and do a push. We lost two years of getting and attracting new people to the program. If we continue to focus on what’s best for young people, and eliminate barriers and nit-picky rules, if we focus on access, belonging and equity, we think we can get back to what got us here.

“Understand our 4-H program is always changing and evolving to meet the needs of our young people and adults. There’s no reason every child can’t be involved in 4-H.”

The club and project portion of 4-H is just one leg of the program, he stated. Overall in Indiana, 4-H reaches more than 150,000 kids throughout the year. Officials offer educational programs in classes to help reinforce what the teachers are teaching, Carrell said. They partner with local boys and girls clubs, the local Y and work with Hispanic and Latino programs across the state.

Carrell said some county fairs may see record attendance after the last couple of years. “The county fair is the one event that brings people from all four corners of the county together. We’re celebrating 4-H but it’s a community-wide event as well. It’s a reunion.”

For a list of dates for the state’s 92 county fairs, visit  https://extension.purdue.edu/4-H/, click on the projects tab, and then 2022 County Fair Dates. To open a PDF listing all fairs, wait for the scroll at the top of the page to stop on “view dates.”