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Dresden Exhibition to return as virtual event

Competitors in the 146th Dresden Exhibition will submit videos of their livestock as the annual fair goes virtual July 23-25 because of COVID-19 restrictions.

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Get your cattle ready for their closeup.

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Competitors in the 146th Dresden Exhibition will submit videos of their livestock – home moo-vies? – as the annual fair goes virtual July 23-25 because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“This was our Plan B, so we started back in February trying to figure out how this was going to work,” Dresden Agricultural Society president Alicia Van Esse said.

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Organizers refused to cancel the exhibition for a second straight year, so work began for a virtual event when it became clear that Plan A – a traditional fair – probably wasn’t possible.

This year’s theme is, “Growing Stronger Together.”

Photos and videos for dozens of competitive categories can be submitted online from June 27 to July 9 via Assist Expo at assistexpo.ca. Rules, categories and prizes are available on the agricultural society’s website at dresdenex.com.

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“We tried. We want something,” Van Esse said. “It’s not that we’re just saying, ‘We’re done, again.’ We do want something.”

The response to the virtual fair has been mixed, she said.

“For the older generation, it’s not as fun because it’s another new thing to learn,” she said. “But for my age and younger, (we’re) still getting the kids out, getting everybody out in the community … and it gives them something to look forward as well.”

There are multiple categories for cattle, sheep and rabbits, plus more for antiques, photography and 4-H projects.

The “seed-to-table” competition asks entrants to submit a video showing the stages of growth from seed to maturity for any root, fruit or vegetable.

For the kids, there are numerous contests for artwork, videos and teddy bears. Many categories require them to be outdoors and active.

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However, the number of categories has been cut “drastically,” Van Esse said. There will be no competitions for baked goods or canned goods or quilts.

“There are a  lot of things that we just couldn’t figure out. ‘How are we going to make this work?’… A picture sometimes just doesn’t do a quilt justice,” she said.

Events that require in-person participation, such as parades, tractor pulls, baby contests and mutton busting, were also chopped.

Organizers drew inspiration from other fairs and received advice from the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies on how to go virtual.

“We got some ideas from everybody,” Van Esse said.

Her children have entered virtual cattle shows, so she’s seen the effort required from organizers and participants for online events to run well.

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“It is a lot of work, but just to see the look on the kids’ eyes as they’re getting out there and doing something again, that’s all that matters,” Van Esse said.

Asked about a return to a traditional exhibition in 2022, Van Esse said, “We’re praying.”

“I got on the board so that the Dresden fair could continue on for my kids to have something when they’re my age. That’s why you do this stuff,” she said. “You never wish that something like this would happen and then all of a sudden it’s gone. You work your butt off and you try and figure it out.

“Hopefully it pays off and you have whatever normal is next year (and then) you figure that out. One step at a time.”

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