Fairs and Festivals: Awarding Winners

Being presented with an award gives a sense of validation. It also provides a way for the receiver to feel valued for their accomplishments. Fairs and festivals are one of these opportunities to recognize winners. From animals to horticulture, everyone who participates is anxiously awaiting a prize!

From equestrian events to pie eating contests, these ribbons are perfect for all of your fairs and festivals during this spring and summer.

Custom ribbon types for fairs and festivals from personalized ribbons.

Most ribbons represent up to nine places and also participation awards. All our rosette ribbons are high quality and can be ordered as custom or stock rosette award ribbons. And ribbons are perfect for awards for any event. Everyone will want a prestigious award for a job well done, from sports and hobbies to business achievements and education. Here are some ribbons to get you started.

Stock Rosette Ribbons

Stock award blue rosette ribbon with victory torch for first place.

Find an award ribbon that suits all of your winners for your next fair or festival, from animals to events. Make all festival-goers feel accomplished with affordable stock rosette ribbons. Children love receiving rosette ribbons for the first, second and third place for corn tossing, bobbing for apples, sack racing and other fun games. Adults love these ribbons for their simplicity and quick recognition.

Achievement Ribbons

Field day achievement ribbon to give to winners and all participants.

Even our stock options for flat prize ribbons will make your fair and festival winners feel special. Use these simple ribbons to include everyone and make sure they know you appreciate their hard work. Give these ribbons to participants and anyone who shows up! Recognize everyone and thank them for their help in making your event the best.

Badge Ribbons

One vertical and one horizontal badge ribbon custom designed for a garden show and a volunteer title to be used at fairs and festivals.

Badge ribbons are great for labeling items and bringing more color to your event. For example, create labels for a cakewalk with ribbons that specify which cake is which. Designate festival workers, volunteers, and vendors with color-coded ribbons to make their name badges for bigger events. If your company is hosting a festival, spotlight employees and staff members with personalized ribbons with their names and job titles.

Custom Top Ribbons

Custom top ribbon designed for a fair or festival advertisement.

Looking for something more custom but still just as simple? Check out our custom top ribbon selection. All of these ribbons are available with full color printing so you can add anything you need. From text to graphics (and even photographic images), these are the perfect answer to your fair and festival ribbon needs. And most of these ribbons come with record cards to personalize for winners and all participants.

Fairs and Festivals: Additional Products

By their very nature, award ribbons suggest that something extraordinary has happened. Whether presenting an award at a student fair, an animal showcase or a sporting event, every award should accurately reflect the achievement. However, don’t underestimate other award and festival products.

1st place award plaque for spring fairs and festivals with a green engraved metal plate.

Award Plaques

Celebrating winners is what spring and summer events are all about, and plaques accomplish this with flair.

A blue lanyard customized with a fair logo to be worn by an attendee or event goer.

Lanyards

Custom lanyards are the perfect advertising tool to get people excited for your upcoming fair or festival.

Best of Show: Festivals and Fairs

State festivals and county fairs have two things in common: the elusive best of show and award ribbons.

From incredible horse shows, food demonstrations and live music to fried food, butter sculptures and roller coasters, festivals and fairs can be an incredible experience. And, don’t forget the best part: those best of show ribbons! But, before we get into our favorite topic of ribbons, let’s talk about the difference between a festival and a fair.

a festival and a fair both have something in common: best of show award ribbons

FESTIVAL vs. FAIR

Briefly, a festival is a gathering of people to celebrate something, historically religious holidays (feast days), but now also secular ones, e.g., Kwanzaa, or the Burning Man, initially held to celebrate the summer solstice. Mardi Gras is a famous New Orleans festival, a religious one celebrated more quietly in other areas.

A fair is a gathering of vendors or tradespeople for the entertainment, commerce or other purpose. There are job fairs (hardly a festival), book fairs, farm shows (also called fairs) where people show their prized livestock or farm products for the entertainment (and often sales for charity) of both fellow farmers and non-farmers alike, county fairs (mostly just summer entertainment), etc.

So, now that we know the difference between a festival and a fair, we can focus on more important things. Things like how to win your Best of Show ribbon!

While we don’t have specifics, especially when it comes to things other than ribbons themselves, on what the best looking cow is or if you have the best tasting chili, we do have a little bit of advice. No matter your location, from Texas to Minnesota, the best thing you can do to win that coveted prize ribbon is to try your hardest. Work on your craft and put the required time in to make sure you know what you’re doing.

Here at Coller Industries, that’s exactly what we do with our custom ribbons (and every personalized product we sell). We have been working on our craft for nearly 25 years, and are top in our trade. So, while we can’t really award ourselves with Best of Show ribbons (judges consider that cheating), we might just try.

But, don’t take our word for it!

Jeff Halbach, a poultry judge at last year’s Minnesota state fair, said, “The birds that end up on champion row usually are sound in body, correct and bright in color, have been cleaned and prepared for showing by their owners. And, finally, they have that winning personality.”

Emily Griffiths, also a judge (beef cattle) at the 2018 Minnesota State Fair, said, “I have always believed that beef heifer shows are very comparable to a beauty pageant in that it is about combining desirable female traits in a well-presented form with poise and style. You want an amount of body and muscle that is proportional and well suited to the animal’s frame with excellent structure. What separates an ordinary cow in the pasture from a champion at the state fair are those heifers with an extra amount of class, style, and grace. Those characteristics are not just limited to people—cattle can have those, too!”

Okay, on to those elusive Best of Show ribbons!

best of show stock rosette ribbon from Personalized Ribbons

Rosette ribbons are seen everywhere at a fair. From giant pumpkins to those cute baby piglets, they are the classic touch at your local state or county fair. There are plenty of titles and stock ribbons from which to choose or make custom fair ribbons. They can have any award or honor imprinted to meet all of your needs.

From county fairs to holiday festivals, personalized ribbons are sure to bring home the Best of Show! And, no matter your ribbon choice, we have something to meet all of your festival and fair needs. Whether it’s a pie eating contest or a 4-H event, ribbon rolls are sure to amaze with the right customization. Rosette ribbons are available as stock titles (yes, Best of Show included) or customize your own. They are a great way to make sure all winners are recognized for any achievement.

But, enough about us, what about you? Are you planning on taking home Best of Show this year? Will it be your prized pig or your mom’s best blueberry pie?

State, County and Local Fair Ribbon Guide

Rosette ribbon being used at a fair

Whether you live in the country, suburbs or city, most people enjoy a good time at their state or local fair. And why shouldn’t they? With superb bovines and delectable food dishes, fairs are enjoyable for all ages.

Almost all fairs sponsor competitions for artists, crafters, bakers, gardeners, plant experts, farmers, ranchers and more. Fair visitors learn about agriculture and make connections to where and how their food is grown. Because of fairs, communities come together to celebrate their neighbors’ success and compete to see who is the best at their craft. After all, who doesn’t want the bragging rights associated with these incredible award ribbons?

Do you know from where those ribbons come?

Here at Personalized Ribbons, we sure do! From traditional rosettes to badge ribbons and from blue ribbons to almost any color you can think of (or at least something to match it).

Rosette Ribbons

You will see rosette ribbons everywhere at a fair. These are the classic fair ribbons with beautiful rosette tops and long streamers. From giant pumpkins and fresh garden produce to cute baby piglets, entering contests at local and county fairs offers the opportunity to test out your new recipe or to become comfortable with your livestock in a fair environment. The rosettes may be smaller, but they are still just as beautiful. There are plenty of stock ribbon titles to choose from, or order rosettes customized with your colors and information. And if we don’t have the style you are looking for, we can special order even more styles.

For state and national competitions, order larger rosettes, with multiple layered rosettes in various colors and additional streamers. With elegant tops and long streamers, everyone envies one of these beauties.

Stock rosettes for fairs and festivals

Place titles from first to sixth and six additional titles, including grand prize and best of show.

STOCK ROSETTES

Custom rosettes for fairs and contests.

Thirteen rosette styles range from 4″ rosettes to a 6.5″ multi-layer rosettes with 36″ streamers.

CUSTOM ROSETTES

Prize Ribbons

Flat ribbons with string hangers and event cards are a low-cost option for local street fairs. Recognize winners in your contests by selecting from a variety of stock styles and titles. If you prefer to create unique awards, custom top ribbons are entirely customized, and the color printing is brilliant. These flat ribbons have also been used as entrance tags and provide something for participants to take home to remind them of their fun.

Prize ribbons for fairs

Place titles from first to sixth, and titles including participant and honorable mention.

PRIZE RIBBONS

Custom top ribbons for fairs

The brilliant color printing will perfectly display your event message.

CUSTOM TOP RIBBONS

Badge Ribbons

Badge ribbons being used at a fair

If you use identification badges to distinguish staff and volunteers at your event, adding badge ribbons can help clarify roles and add fun to their experience. Badge ribbons attach to the bottom of the badge holder with available titles such as judge, exhibitor and volunteer. You may also have custom titles printed, and one idea would be to print ribbons with competition categories such as Art Competition, Garden Produce, Animal Husbandry and more.

ORDER BADGE RIBBONS

Ribbon Rolls

Use ribbons for product packaging at a fair

We even have products for the vendors that are at every fair. Are you selling something and want to make sure people remember who you are? Try using custom ribbon rolls in your product packaging. From mason jar products to homemade bread and pastries, a creative bow around each item is guaranteed to make your product stand out to your customers. Ribbon rolls are great for creative decorating as well. Run several ribbons down the length of your show table in the pavilion. Or create something more unique to suit your needs. From table decorations to product displays, ribbon rolls are your go-to ribbon for all your needed decor.

ORDER RIBBON ROLLS

No matter your ribbon choice, from rosettes to ribbon rolls,
you will find a ribbon you need for your next fair or festival!