Alongside the traditional lineup of jams, quilts and other exhibits, visitors to the Park County Fair will be able to check out “farm junk” sculptures and artwork created only with beans and seeds.

They’re among several new competitions added to this year’s fair.

Participants in the Farm Junk Sculpture Contest were asked to create their own masterpiece with “auto parts, pieces of iron, old wrenches, nuts and bolts, broken yard tools, leftover lumber or whatever else you can find.” A grand prize of $100 and a reserve champion prize of $50 are up for grabs.

Everlast Metal is sponsoring the competition and company owner Dustin Short has worked to drum up interest; the fair office also put up some fliers and Facebook posts.

“It looks like that’s pulled in some things, but I don’t really have any idea what we’re going to get. I’m kind of excited to see,” said Audra Jewell, the Park County events administrator.

Meanwhile, Treasure Valley Seed Co. is sponsoring three new contests: best dessert to incorporate beans, best agricultural photo and best piece of art formed from seeds and beans.

“They have quite a few entries in all three [categories],” Jewell said. “We’re pretty excited about that.”

Treasure Valley Seed is putting up the prize money for the winners and will own the entries — including the recipes for the bean-focused desserts. The winning art and photos may be displayed in the dry bean seed company’s offices.

Also new this year is a yeast roll baking contest, sponsored by King Arthur Flour. (The winners and runners-up will receive gift certificates for King Arthur Flour’s online shop, with the third-place finisher receiving a cookbook from the company.)

Despite the interest around the new categories, Jewell said overall entries to the fair do appear to be down a bit this year as compared to 2018.

The only way Jewell will know the reason for the dip is by asking people at the fair.

“You just never know: Is it because they’re being more, ‘Oh, I’m not going to put everything and the kitchen sink in ...?’ Or is it just because it’s down?” she said.

Jewell added that numbers can change simply when a group of kids graduate from high school — or when regular participants take a year off.

“You always have some ebb and flow,” she said.