Alaska State Fair

State Fair Saturday

This year is the 75th anniversary of the Alaska State Fair.

It’s held in Palmer and, after hearing about all the fun stuff that goes on there – all those funnel cakes, all the cute animals and all the wacky hair – I had to go visit.

I especially wanted to see the infamous giant vegetables made possible by Alaska’s long summer days.

Over the years, almost a dozen world records for giant fruits and vegetables have been set at the fair, including a 35-pound broccoli (1993), a beet that weighed 42.75 pounds (1999), a 64.8 pound cantaloupe (2004), an 82.9 pound rutabaga (2009) and a 127-pound cabbage (2009).

A ‘loser’ cabbage weighing less than 75 pounds was on display when I visited on Friday,
but two or three record-setting contenders – one measuring 7 feet across (!) – are supposed to show up next Friday, September 2nd, for the 16th annual Cabbage Weigh-Off.

Which cabbage will win? Maybe the Cabbage Fairies know…