(FREEHOLD, NJ) -- The Monmouth County Fair is celebrating its 50th Anniversary! This 5-day event features live entertainment, thrilling rides, decadent food, 4-H shows and exhibits, and, of course, the Home & Garden Competition.  At the heart of the Fair, this beloved tradition invites local residents to bring their finest handcrafted items, tastiest homemade baked goods, and best of their garden's bounty to compete for a blue ribbon. Think you've got what it takes to win? Then start planning your entry today! 

The competition starts when staff accepts entries of art, photos, crafts, needlework and canning on Sunday, July 20 from 9:00am-3:00pm and on Monday, July 21 from 8:00am-11:00am.  Flower and vegetable entries should be brought to the Fairgrounds on Friday, July 25 from 8:00am-11:00am.  Baked goods will be accepted at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 26 from 8:00am-11:00am.  Pre-registration is not required for these categories. Please note that this is an amateur competition.

The Home & Garden Competition will accept entries from Senior Center and Adult Day Programs on Monday, July 21 and Tuesday, July 22 from 9:00am-12:00pm. For information on the Senior Center and Adult Day Programs Competition, please contact Anne Simon at 732-460-1167, ext. 4643.

The On-Site Native Plant Flower Arranging Competition, hosted by the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, will be held on Friday, July 25 at 7:00pm. Contestants will have one hour to complete their flower arrangement.  Plant materials will be provided; however, contestants are required to bring their own container. Arrangements will be judged on creativity, diversity of plants, and best use of container. Pre-registration required.  For more information or to register, please contact Jason Goldman at [email protected] or 732-872-2670, ext. 4374.

New for this year, is the Black Jar Honey Competition sponsored by Central Jersey Beekeepers Association. Contestants should bring one honey jar to the fairgrounds for submission on Saturday, July 26 between 8:00am-11:00am.  Honey must be filtered and in a classic one-pound jar filled to the fill line.  Judging is at 2:00pm.

After judging, the entries in the Home & Garden Competition can be seen at the Monmouth County Fair. For more information about the Home & Garden Competition or to download a brochure, visit www.MonmouthCountyFair.com  or call 732-842-4000.  For persons with hearing impairment, the TTY/TDD number is 711. 

Held at East Freehold Showgrounds, Kozloski Road, Freehold, the Monmouth County Fair runs Wednesday-Sunday, July 23-27.  Hours are 4:00pm-11:00pm on Wednesday-Friday, July 23-25; 11:00am-11:00pm on Saturday, July 26; and 11:00am-6:00pm on Sunday, July 27.

General admission to the Monmouth County Fair is $10 per adult; children 12 and under are admitted free. Half price admission offered during the first two hours of each day; 4:00pm-6:00pm Wednesday-Friday; and 11:00am-1:00pm Saturday & Sunday. Veterans and active military with ID also enter for free.  On Sunday, seniors 65 and older and students with ID are free.

Be sure to follow the Monmouth County Park System on social media. Upcoming Fair contests will be announced on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, offering an opportunity to win admission tickets and more.

The Monmouth County Fair is presented by the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners in cooperation with the Monmouth County Park System and the Monmouth County 4-H Association.