The Lottery loves the State Fair of Virginia

Virginia Lottery employees love getting out into the community and meeting players, and large community events are the perfect places to do so. One of the signature events is the State Fair of Virginia, which now takes place at Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Va. from late September through early October.

The event lets players purchase games, engage in promotions and meet some of the people who help bring everything the Lottery does to life.

And you never know if a winning ticket might be sold at the State Fair. Case in point: In the early 2000s, a Lotto South ticket purchased at the Fair won an $11.6 million prize. Unfortunately, the prize was unclaimed, and the ticket expired in 2003.

To understand the Lottery’s love of the Fair, let’s take a look back at Fairs of the past and see what happened at the 2019 State Fair too.

• In 2011, the Lottery’s Fair location featured former Washington Redskins wide receiver Gary Clark, who was on-site to sign autographs and promote the then-new $5 Hail to the Redskins Scratcher.
• In 2016, the State Fair featured dozens of Lottery employees selling thousands of tickets to visitors and giving out many Lottery goodies. The staff conducted Spin to Win events several times each day, which were fun ways to get players engaged and winning, and the Lottery sponsored the pig races. The evening race included giving away Hog Mania Scratchers and a special Hog Mania t-shirt.
• In 2018, the fun continued with ticket sales and spins on The Big Wheel.

The 2019 State Fair was full of excitement too!

• There were drawings held twice a day (2 p.m. and 6 p.m.) in which five winners each won $50. To get an entry, a player just had to purchase a $500K Cash Scratcher. If the Scratcher was not a winner, then the player got an entry into the drawing. Over the course of the Fair, there were 10 winners each day and 100 in total.
• There also was a promotion tied to MobilePlay: If a player deposited $20 into his or her MobilePlay account, the player was eligible to win a new iPhone 11! Seventy-one people made the $20 deposit!
• The Lottery also sponsored the pig races and Midway (Carnival Games) area.
• Most importantly, the 2019 State Fair allowed Lottery employees to get out into the community, work with colleagues across the agency and meet and interact with players.

Remember, you can always check out our Lottery Events page to see where we’ll be next, and make sure to come see us in Doswell for the 2020 State Fair!

_{Last Modified 11/1/19}