NEW ULM — Rabbits raced, wove through obstacle courses, and modeled colorful costumes Friday as 4-H members from across Brown County gathered in the show ring for the fifth annual Funny Bunny Games at the Brown County Fair.
The lighthearted competition took place the day after the fair’s formal 4-H rabbit show, offering young exhibitors an opportunity to unwind and showcase their animals in a relaxed setting. Rabbit superintendents Courtney Wyczawski and Allysa Johnson organized the afternoon’s festivities, continuing an event Johnson launched five years ago when the pair began overseeing the fair’s rabbit barn.
“We had our serious rabbit show yesterday, and then today was our Funny Bunny Games,” Wyczawski explained following the event. “It’s just something that we like to put on for them after they go through all the work of presenting their rabbits to the official judges. It’s a little bit more fun for them to be able to show off their rabbits, get some teamwork, and join together.”
Young exhibitors representing four area 4-H clubs — Comfrey Comets, Sleepy Eye Wide Awakes, Milford, and Northwest Wildflowers — brought their rabbits to compete across five distinct events: an obstacle course, a costume contest, an individual rabbit race, a buck relay race, and a doe relay race.
Tony Beranek of the Milford 4-H Club served as the emcee for the games for the first time, providing live play-by-play commentary over the fairgrounds’ public address system. A seasoned voice at the fairgrounds, Beranek also emceed the goat show and tractor pull earlier in the week.
“I do talk on the mic every once in a while,” Beranek joked before stepping up to call the action.
His daughter, Hazel Beranek, attended the event alongside her friend Kaytlin Lilleodden. Lilleodden, competing in her second year at the games with her rabbit, Pancake, noted that handling rabbits in a public arena presents unique challenges even for experienced handlers.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get them to move and have them go through the obstacle courses,” Lilleodden said.
Before the opening event, organizers outlined the official ground rules for the obstacle course: exhibitors were required to stay outside the inner fence line and guide their rabbits using pool noodles without directly touching the animals. Completing an obstacle earned a five-second deduction from the competitor’s final time, with a hard one-minute cap on each run.
The course challenged rabbits to navigate a wooden ramp, weave between vertical markers, and leap through a hoop dubbed the “ring of fire.” While some rabbits bounded cleanly through the agility setup, others chose to sit down mid-course to the crowd’s delight. Shelby Neudecker took first place in the event, guiding a rabbit named Puck to the winning time.
Following the agility run, exhibitors prepped their animals on tables for the costume contest. The entries featured rabbits outfitted in a variety of creative attire, including one dressed as a vampire and another styled as a duck. Costume judge Tyler Ibberson interviewed each young competitor about their costume concept before awarding the top prize to Lillian Brandes and her rabbit, Triple Berry.
Next up was the rabbit race, a timed individual sprint where handlers stayed alongside their rabbits in the ring to coax them from one end of the floor to the other. Cindy Jensen and her rabbit, Scooby, recorded the fastest time across the track.
The action accelerated with the buck relay race, which paired pairs of exhibitors in a tag-team format. Under relay rules, the first handler coaxed their rabbit down to a carpet square at the far end of the ring; once the animal reached the mark, the second handler was cleared to release their rabbit. Lillian Brandes, again showing Triple Berry, teamed up with Kelly Hollingsworth and her rabbit, Vamp, to capture the relay victory.
The final event of the afternoon was the double relay race, which required each team member to guide two rabbits down the length of the ring simultaneously. Mara Kelton, showing a rabbit named Blobfish, joined Lorelei Wyczawski, showing a rabbit named Violet, to secure the top finish.
Lorelei Wyczawski, was all smiles after the win. Her mother Courtney Wyczawski noted that while their family keeps six rabbits at home, they leased Violet specifically for the fair because their home rabbits were not suited for official showing.
“Honestly, I’ve never seen her run so fast,” Courtney laughed, watching her daughter guide Violet down the course.
In addition to the five competitive events, fairgoers who visited the rabbit barn throughout the week cast votes for a Fan Favorite award. The honor was presented at the conclusion of the games to Eliza Beranek and her rabbit, Jamal.
Outside of the competitive ring, youth exhibitors spent the day fielding questions from fairgoers and introducing visitors to various rabbit breeds. Among them was Annika Wyffels, a blue-ribbon winner from the previous day’s formal 4-H rabbit show, who held one of her four rabbits in the barn while chatting with passersby.
Wyczawski emphasized that the rabbit classes remain among the largest and most active 4-H programs at the Brown County Fair each year, adding that community members who raise rabbits outside of 4-H are welcome to enter them through the fair’s open class division.
As the afternoon wrapped up and awards were handed out, organizers thanked the volunteers, parents, and judges, confirming plans to return for a sixth year in 2027.
“It’s a lot of fun, very informative, and it’s one of our biggest classes here at the fair,” Wyczawski said. “These kids put in a lot of work.”