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DNREC at the Delaware State Fair

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control welcomes Delaware State Fair visitors to DNREC’s climate-controlled building on the fairgrounds at the corner of Holloway Avenue and East Rider Road. The Fair runs from July 20 through July 29, 2023.

A variety of people, including families with children, stand outside the entrance of a building on the state fairgrounds. There are large photos of natural areas on the side of the building.

Visitors will learn about the science behind the work of DNREC, and its partners, to protect the environment and public health through displays and hands-on activities.

Displays in the DNREC building include a large touch tank, to bring visitors up close to native aquatic life. Outside, a shiny Airstream trailer will feature information on camping and other fun things to do at Delaware’s beautiful state parks.

Stop by the Division of Fish and Wildlife booth in the DNREC building to buy your Delaware hunting or fishing licenses or your Conservation Access Pass.

Delaware resident hunters who buy a 2023/2024 license at the DNREC Building at the Fair will automatically be entered into the state’s first low number hunting license raffle.

There will be activities on the DNREC porch and visitors are invited to stroll across the street to check out a variety of DNREC Natural Resources Police and Emergency Response equipment.

Admission to DNREC programs is free. The building is open from noon to 8 p.m. during the 10 days of the fair.

It’s a DNREC Career Fair Too!

Along with fun and educational activities, DNREC will hold a Career Fair, focusing on different career paths and opportunities each day. Meet professionals from your field of interest and learn about great job opportunities. DNREC Human Resources representatives will be there to help with job applications.

What’s Happening in the DNREC Building


Thursday, July 20, 2023

10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Come see a Sand Sculpting Display on the DNREC porch. Watch as skilled sculptors transform a pile of sand into fantastic new forms.

11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Delaware Mobile Surf Fishermen will be featured at the Partner Booth.

Delaware Mobile Surf-Fishermen is a family-oriented group of likeminded persons – men, woman and children – who have a deep interest in surf fishing, preserving beach access, conservation of the beaches, the waters and the marine sport fisheries. They strive to inform their members and the public of information relating to beach access issues, beach driving, marine sport fishing and waters.

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.


Friday, July 21, 2023

11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

DNREC Energy Programs will be featured in the Partner Booth. Learn how state programs, grants and rebates can help you save energy, get clean energy, or become energy efficient in your home or business.

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Kids can design their own communities with DNREC planners at the Career Fair table.

3:30 to 8 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Air Quality will be featured in the Partner Booth. Learn how DNREC teams monitor and protect the air that you breathe.


Saturday, July 22, 2023

10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Delaware State Duck and Goose Calling Championship will take place in Hertrich Plaza on the state fairgrounds. Registration for participants in junior and senior levels opens at 8:30 a.m. on the plaza.

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Learn about volunteer opportunities throughout the state at the Career Fair table with staff from the Delaware State Parks Volunteer Office. Play a game of scavenger hunt bingo in which items on a bingo board are volunteer work or acts of kindness.


Sunday, July 23, 2023

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Join White Clay Creek State Park Superintendent Laura Lee for some hands-on history and naturalist experiences at the Career Fair table. Learn about the things that sparked her interest as a summer employee in the 1990s and led to a career with State Parks.


Monday, July 24, 2023

11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary will be featured in the Partner Booth. What would you like your shorelines to look like? Come test out an interactive living shoreline model and learn more about the Partnership and the Delaware Resilient and Sustainable Communities League.

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Learn about wells and groundwater using the DNREC groundwater model with DNREC Hydrologists at the Career Fair table. Find out how groundwater moves below us and how things that happen here on the surface can affect groundwater and surface water. Check out some of the tools that hydrogeologists use to study groundwater.


Tuesday, July 25, 2023 (Kids’ Day!)

Noon to 2 p.m.

There will be kids’ activities on the porch. Kids are welcome to come and make bluebird boxes they can take home to paint. Youth Conservation Corps members will be on hand to assist.

2 to 4 p.m.

Kids are welcome to come to the DNREC porch and play colonial games with staff from Delaware’s First State Heritage Park.

3 to 6 p.m.

Find hints of Delaware’s past while exploring fossils with staff from the DNREC Division of Water.

DNREC workers sometimes find fossils while drilling wells or performing other tasks. Visitors to the DNREC Building on Kids Day will see fossils and learn a bit about the kind of dinosaurs that once lived, learn about when the area that became Delaware was under water, and explore some of the layers of the past we can see today when we dig down.

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.


Wednesday, July 26, 2023

11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary will be featured in the Partner Booth.

The Auxiliary promotes and improves recreational boating safety. It provides trained crews and facilities to augment the Coast Guard and enhance safety and security of ports, waterways, and coastal regions. And it supports Coast Guard operational, administrative, and logistical requirements. Stop by to learn more about what we do.

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.


Thursday, July 27, 2023

10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Come see a Sand Sculpting Display on the DNREC porch. Watch as skilled sculptors transform a pile of sand into fantastic new forms.

11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Staff with the DNREC Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances will be in the Partner Booth to talk about recycling and other programs.

Find out what can and cannot be recycled in Delaware’s Universal Recycling program.

Learn how the Brownfields program recycles land into new uses.

Pick up a new DNREC reuable shopping bag (while supplies last).

Noon to 2 p.m.

There will be kids’ activities on the porch. Kids are welcome to come and make bluebird boxes they can take home to paint. Youth Conservation Corps members will be on hand to assist.

Noon to 4:30 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Have fun with energy and weatherization-themed crosswords, word searches and coloring pages at the Career Fair table.

1 to 1:30 p.m.

Join a Governor’s Day tour of the DNREC building and stay for the Annual DNREC Awards in the nearby Mann-Tharp Pavillion.


Friday, July 28, 2023

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Have fun with energy and weatherization-themed crosswords, word searches and coloring pages at the Career Fair table.

Noon to 8 p.m.

The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays will be featured in the Partner Booth.

Discover Delaware’s Inland Bays. Learn about these unique ecosystems and ways that we can help preserve, protect and restore them.


Saturday, July 29, 2023

Noon to 5 p.m.

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will have their Archery Trailer and Vehicle Display set up in the nearby machine lot. Come try your hand at shooting with a bow and arrow. Learn basic archery safety and shooting and have an opportunity for hands-on instruction shooting a bow.

Vehicles used by the Natural Resources Police will also be on display.

Noon to 8 p.m.

Learn about the important work of administrative staff at DNREC with a scavenger hunt at the Career Fair table.

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