Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the Categories for the Virtual Heritage Fair?

For the remaining questions, please click on the category for the answers. The page will open in a new window.

About the Heritage Fair Process

• Is the Virtual Heritage Fair replacing the in-person events forever?
• Is the Virtual Heritage Fair just a replacement for the Heritage Fairs due to COVID-19?
• Is the Virtual Heritage Fair replacing the Regional Fairs, or is it replacing the Provincial Heritage Fair? Will students advance?
• Can students participate in both the Virtual Heritage Fair and the in-person Heritage Fairs (when resumed)?
• Can students participate in the Virtual Heritage Fair even if they were not selected to advance to the Regional Fairs (when resumed)?
• Can students submit projects to the Virtual Heritage Fair independently?
• Do teachers still have to register for the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• If I [as a teacher] register my class for the Virtual Heritage Fair, do all of my students have to submit their projects?
• If a student wants to participate independently, do they have to register in advance?
• If a student is registered to participate (either as part of a class or independently) and then moves to a different school, can they still participate in the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• If a student is registered to participate (either as part of a class or independently) and then moves out of province, can they still participate in the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• Can students participate in partners?
• Can students participate in groups?
• Can students outside of the eligible grades participate?
• Can a Grade 3 student submit a project alone?
• Can a Grade 9 student submit a project alone?
• What about students in younger grades?
• What about students in high school beyond Grade 9?
• How do split-grade projects get evaluated?
• How would a split-grade small-group project be evaluated?
• What language can a Virtual Heritage Fair project be in?
• Do all projects have to be videos?
• Do all projects have to include photos?
• Do all projects from the same class/school have to be of the same type and in the same category?
• How does judging work at the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• How do judges compare a project that is a video and PowerPoint to a project that is just a written essay?
• How are awards/prizes determined?
• How does Heritage Saskatchewan determine which awards/prizes will be offered?
• How will the awards be different once the Regional Fairs and Provincial Fair resume?
• How many times can a student compete in the Heritage Fairs?
• Can award-winners participate in subsequent years?
• Why are students allowed to attend multiple Heritage Fairs? Shouldn’t they let someone else have a turn?
• Why are students allowed to participate in both the Virtual Heritage Fair and the in-person Heritage Fairs? Could a student theoretically win both contests?
• Why is there more variety to the types of acceptable projects for the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• Why is there more flexibility around participation in the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• What if the Virtual Fair has 4000* projects? Would there be the possibility of creating multiple levels?
• How much work is required from participating teachers for the Virtual Fair?
• If a teacher misses the registration deadline for teachers, can their students still participate?
• Is there any appeal process if a student was (or seemed to be) judged unfairly?
• Is it equitable if a large proportion of award winners are from the same school?
• What counts as a conflict of interest for a judge?
• What does not count as a conflict of interest for a judge?
• What about the fact that French-language projects can be under-represented in the award winners? Would this be different for the Virtual Heritage Fair?
• What measures (if any) will Heritage Saskatchewan take to protect the privacy of the students online?
• Why does Heritage Saskatchewan include students’ first and last names?
• Is it mandatory to include a student’s full name, grade, etc.? What if there are additional concerns?
• Is there a National Heritage Fair?

About Topics

• Does the project have to be about family history, or specifically about Saskatchewan?
• Can the teacher assign specific topics?
• How long ago did something have to happen, or how old does something have to be, before it is considered ‘heritage’?
• Are science topics acceptable?
• What about sports? Artists? Movies? Does it matter how famous someone is?
• Can a student do a project about a fictional character or story?
• What about something that did not happen in Canada or is not entirely Canadian?
• Can a student do a project about their family's heritage in another country?
• Can a student do a project about another country (as a topic)?
• What if a student is still not sure if the topic that they are interested in studying fits into Heritage Fairs?
• What if a topic is controversial?
• What if a topic, no matter how respectfully presented, would contain offensive material?
• Could a class split up one larger topic and create separate but related projects? (For example, doing different projects that together tell the history of the community that the school is in.)
• Has there been a shift in focus away from history?
• Is there anything that would be considered a “bad” topic?
• Are any topics preferred over others?
• Is it cultural appropriation if a student creates a Heritage Fairs project about an aspect of a cultural group that they are not a part of?
• Is there anything to be avoided in a Virtual Heritage Fair display or presentation?
• Can students include games and quizzes in their presentation?
• What about copyright infringement online, especially in videos?
• Can students include copyrighted music in their projects?
• What about videos, such as Heritage Minutes? Can students include these in their projects?
• What documentation do students (or their teachers) need to provide to Heritage Saskatchewan to prove that there is no copyright infringement in their project?
• Does “fair use” still apply when there is a contest aspect to the Heritage Fair?