Dress-A-Bunny Contest This one requires little explanation, since it's exactly what it sounds like, so rest assured that this one's weirdness will be rivaled only by its cuteness. Contestants vie for bunny-dressing supremacy in three categories -- "originality/creativity," "behavior of bunny while in costume" and, for some reason, "communication skills" -- and (BONUS!) you get two for the non-existent-for-spectators price of one with the Dress-A-Bird show, which immediately follows at 6:30 p.m.
When: August 27 at 6 p.m. Price: Free for spectators
Wool Riders Only To be fair, what's commonly known as "mutton bustin'" is pretty common at state and county fairs everywhere, but that doesn't make it, as a concept, any less weird: To wit, it's 3- to 6-year-old kids riding sheep, rodeo-style. Upon reflection, it actually infuriates me that I never did this as a kid.
When: Weekdays at 7 p.m., weekends and Labor Day at 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 and 7 p.m. Price: Free to spectate, $12 to ride (gear provided)
Colorado Strongman Competition Dudes lift shit! Also they pull shit! And, of course, the good strongwomen of Colorado lift and pull shit, too. There's a strong component of lifting and pulling shit to any fair worth its accompanying county or state, and nowhere is that component more freakishly noteworthy than when the entities doing the lifting/pulling are human beings. On a side note, if you plan to drunkenly heckle these gentlemen, do it toward the end of the competition, when they're tired.When: September 3, 12 to 4 p.m. Price: Free to spectate, $40 to enter
Bruce Sarafian, World Record Juggler "What does it mean," you may be wondering, "to be a world record juggler?" I will tell you: It means having juggled the most balls at a time of any person ever -- 12 balls, to be exact -- and it's held by Bruce Sarafian, who set it at 11 balls in 1993 and then, just for shits, broke it. Also, obviously, he rides a unicycle. It may be true that you could find juggling and unicycling at just any state fair, but you can only find world record juggling and unicycling at this one.
When: 12:30, 4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. daily Price: Free
Hendrick's Racing Pigs Show Pigs... that race. Literally months apparently go into training these pigs -- which are somehow not being made into delicious meats instead -- to run as fast as they can toward the goal of winning an Oreo cookie (cheap date, amiright?). But the real prize goes to everyone who gets to see it.
When: 11 a.m., 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. daily Price: Free
