The fair is famous for its record setting giant vegetables and picturesque location at the foot of the Chugach Mountains in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. The event features amusement rides, food concessions, competitive exhibits, carnival games, live performances and more.
The first Alaska State Fair was held September 4–7, 1936. It was organized by members of the Northland Pioneer Grange No. 1, an agricultural fraternal organization, that was organized in the Matanuska Valley in 1933. Planning for the Fair began in 1935 and coincided with establishment of the Matanuska Colony, a New Deal resettlement community designed to assist out of work Midwestern families. In establishing a colony in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley it was the U.S. government's intent to decrease Alaska's reliance on imported food, increase the Territory's population, and give Midwestern families on public assistance a new start.
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Situated in the heart of the fertile Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the Fair features giant vegetable exhibits, like 2010’s pending world record-breaking 46-foot (14 m), 8-inch (20 cm) gourd vine, and the state record-breaking 39-inch (100 cm) bean, 83-inch (210 cm) gourd and 1,101-pound (500 kg) pumpkin.
The Fair’s giant cabbage contest tradition began in 1941, when a $25 prize was offered for the largest cabbage and Max Sherrod of the Valley took the prize with a 23 pounder (10.5 kg). The official Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off was established in 1995. In 2012, grower Scott Robb entered a 138.25 pound (63 kg) cabbage, which not only took first place, but also set a new world record.
In 2007, the Fair’s flowers and gardens received some national recognition, when the makers of the Public Broadcasting Service program GardenSMART visited the Fair to film a 30-minute segment.
According to wikipedia
