Chile peppers are an iconic Colorado crop. There’s even a particular type of chile, the Pueblo Chile, that only grows in Colorado. To honor this unique Colorado treasure, the Colorado State Fair asked us to create a chile pepper exhibit for their fair visitors.

You can’t miss the exhibit we designed — it’s topped with a giant 3D chile pepper! We sculpted it out of durable foam and painstakingly recreated the shape and coloration of a real chile pepper. Then we mounted the sculpture on top of a four-sided display.

One side of the exhibit includes a recessed cabinet with a realistic replica of a Pueblo Chile plant, peppers and all. Unlike most peppers, Pueblo Chile peppers point upwards as they grow. Our craftsmen made sure to include this distinctive trait on the replica.

The opposite side of the exhibit features eight flip-up doors with trivia questions about chiles in general and Pueblo Chiles in particular. The answers are all hidden under the doors. Whether visitors already know a lot about chile peppers or not, they can have fun testing their knowledge here.

Both of the other two sides offer some interactive fun for kids. Each side has graphics of a chile pepper plant and recessed cubbies that hold replicas of the chile peppers themselves. Kids can pretend to harvest them from the plant over and over again. And just like the giant chile sculpture, we accurately re-created the shape and coloring of a Pueblo Chile for these little models.

With a chile pepper exhibit that’s eye-catching enough to stand out among a sea of ag-related displays, the Colorado State Fair is well-equipped to show Coloradans the highlights of their state’s ag industry.