By Lori Fredrich Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor, Podcast Host Published Jul 08, 2015 at 10:19 AM

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Eight finalists have been chosen for the Wisconsin State Fair’s third annual food competition, The Sporkies, a competition which challenges fair vendors to create the most ingenious concoctions they can for the fair. 

Finalists include:

  • Brew City’s Bacon Bottom Porker Pizza (pizza with a bacon-weave pizza crust)

  • Tropics at the Fair’s Beer Battered Pretzel Coated Deep-Fried Cheese Curds

  • Tropics at the Fair’s Cheesy Smoked Gouda Sidewinder Fries

  • Mexican Grill’s Churro Sundae (featuring churro, a chocolate long john and ice cream)

  • Saz’s Deep-Fried Pretzel Crusted Brownies On-a-Stick

  • Apollo’s Gyros’ Gyro Meatballs

  • Sprecher Landing’s Party Hard Dessert Flight (hard beverage-infused parfaits)

  • Water Street Brewery’s Wis-Cone-sin (a pretzel cone filled with chicken schnitzel, potato pancake and German Rotkohl)

And if you think those sound good, you’ll be excited to hear that the final judging for the awards will take place at the fair -- and everyone is invited to participate in the judging.

Help judge the Sporkies

Simply sample all eight of the Sporkies entries, which will be available on the festival grounds throughout the fair. All Sporkies finalists will display a 13-foot Spork trophy at their vendor location, so they will be extra easy to find. Once you’ve sampled them all, you can vote for your favorite.

Voting will take place Aug. 6-11 via social media (use hashtag #FairgoersFave) or in person at the Guest Services Pavilion, located on Central Avenue near Central Park and the Exposition Center.

The Sporky with the most votes will be awarded a very special Golden Spork trophy during the final judging, which will be held on Aug. 12 at 11 a.m. at the Bank Mutual Ampitheater.

During the judging event, finalists will showcase their creations for public, as well as a panel of local celebrity judges who will taste, deliberate and eventually choose the first, second and third place winners of Golden Spork trophies. The event will be hosted by Kyle Cherek, host of the PBS television show, Wisconsin Foodie.

Be a Celebrity Judge

And, just in case you want in on a bit more action, this year, one lucky fairgoer will be chosen to be part of the celebrity judging panel on Aug. 12.

To enter, simply submit your entry with hashtag #Sporkies2015 on social media during the month of July.

Lori Fredrich Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor, Podcast Host

Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “Milwaukee Food.” Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. 

When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or recording the FoodCrush podcast, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.