Imagine your local fair. Now put it online. This was what was done out in McGregor last weekend as the community held its first ever virtual fair.

North Norfolk and District Ag Society Secretary/Treasurer Joanne Rossnagel says there were four components to the virtual fair, the first of which was the horse show.

"Entrants were able to go onto our website and pick their classes and send their entries in via the website and, through that, they sent in either photo submissions or video submissions based on the class requirements. We took those and we spent the last weekend judging those," says Rossnagel, adding it was much like judging a live horse show except that it was on a television screen.

She says the community exhibits category was done in a similar way. The third component of the virtual fair was the Aggie Spirit contest, which Rossnagel says was to promote agriculture with in the community. She explains people were able to post online and vote on their favourite entry.

The final component of the fair was the walk/drive through parade where people decorated their yards based on three different themes. Rossnagel says this contest was also judged by the community, as everyone had the opportunity to vote for their favourite yard.

Rossnagel notes while the number of entrants in the different classes was down from what they would typically see at a regular fair, the quality of the entries surpassed expectations. She says the virtual fair was definitely something different, but it was nonetheless an opportunity to bring the community together, albeit in a different capacity.

As for organizing the virtual fair, Rossnagel says it was a huge undertaking.

"We spent weeks and weeks," says Rossnagel. "Building the website, building submission forms, building rules around it- because it's something that had never been done. We didn't have a template to go off of so we basically started from scratch. [...] That was a lot more work than we would normally have."

Rossnagel adds the Ag Society makes a great team, which is why they were able to pull it off. She adds she applauds the everyone who worked together in order to pull off something so ambitious amidst uncertain circumstances.