Royalty

Hardin County Fair King and Queen

  1. Contestants must be a senior in the 2026-2027 school year.
  2. Contestants must be a current member, in good standing, of a Hardin County organization represented on the Hardin County Junior Fair Board.
    • FFA
    • Farm Bureau Youth Council
    • Boy Scouts
    • 4-H
    • FCCLA (FCS)
    • Grange Youth
    • Girl Scouts
    • High School Art
  3. All contestants must exhibit a project at the Hardin County Fair and be in good standing with their organization.
  4. Contestants should apply online below.
  5. All applications are due May 31 of the current year.  County interviews will be held in August. Finalists will be notified of the location and time for their interview. Appropriate attire will be business professional attire. Interview scoring will be based on the following:
    • Activities
    • Poise and personality
    • Personal appearance
    • Self-presentation
    • Response to interview questions
  6. The person selected to be queen will be required to participate in the  Ohio Fairs’ Queen Contest at the Ohio Fair Managers Convention in Columbus, Ohio. This is held during the first week of January.
  7. The crowning of the fair royalty will take place on Tuesday evening of the Hardin County Fair in front of the grandstand. Queen candidates should wear formal dresses and King contestants should wear a suit.  Flowers will be presented to the candidates courtesy of Blossom Gallery Florist.

King and Queen Candidate Application

Hardin County Fair Junior Royalty

Thank you for participating in the Hardin County Fair Junior Royalty Contest! We are excited to begin another year of Junior Royalty! The purpose of this program is to recognize our county youth that are not yet old enough to participate in the Hardin County Junior Fair. The funds from this contest will be used to fund scholarships for the Hardin County Fair King & Queen. It is certainly our hope that this is a scholarship that the participants in the Junior Royalty contest will compete for when they are eligible to run for Hardin County Fair King or Queen. Please be sure that you read all of the rules and expectations below. Rules can also be found in the Fair Book. Should you have any questions, please feel free to call our office at 419-675-2396.

Sincerely,
Kelly Little & Jolene Buchenroth
Royalty Coordinators

Rules

  1. Participants must be between 5-8 years old as of January 1 of the current year, and can not be eligible or enrolled in traditional 4-H.
  2. No child can win the contest more than once.
  3. Participants must register to participate by July 16. Registration is at hardincountyfair.org/royalty
  4. Participants must enter at least one project in any open class at the Hardin County Fair. That entry must be made by 4pm on August 8, to be eligible to participate.
  5. Participants will sell raffle tickets at $5 each. Ticket sales will be July 16th – August 8th, 2026.
  6. Winnings can be collected in the Secretary’s Office during the week of the Hardin County Fair. Winnings not claimed by Sunday, September 7th at 4pm will be forfeited and donated back to the royalty scholarship program.
  7. Each participant will start with 25 tickets to sell – which can be obtained from the Secretary’s Office. If the child sells out, more tickets can be obtained from the Secretary. Selling out of tickets does not guarantee a participant wins the contest.
  8. Unsold tickets must be returned to the Secretary’s Office by August 8th at 4pm. All money must be turned in to the Secretary by 4pm on August 8. Tickets and money turned in past the deadline, will not count.
  9. The boy that sells the most raffle tickets will be named the Hardin County Fair Prince.
  10. The girl that sells the most raffle tickets will be named the Hardin County Fair Princess.
  11. In the event of a tie, the kids will be given an additional week (August 11-15) to sell tickets, and the winner will be determined after that.
  12. The winning ticket will be drawn Tuesday evening at the ceremony by the participant that sold the most overall.
  13. Please note that the raffie is 50/50 with a cap of $5,000.

Participant Expectations

  1. Participants and the participants’ family will represent the Hardin County Fair and Hardin County Agricultural Society in a positive manner.
  2. Participants will participate in the Tuesday evening crowning ceremony. The Prince and Princess may also attend as many other shows and entertainment as they wish.
  3. Participants will wear business casual attire for the crowning ceremony.

Junior Royalty Application