Simple Contest Sample

The Case of the Candy Carousel Horse

The venue for this contest was an arena where a trade show was being held. Hundreds of people came through the site over two days. They all needed an equal opportunity to solve the mystery which ran all day Saturday and half of Sunday. The objective was to get the visitors to spend a certain amount of time at each booth and to keep the children entertained so that their parents could interact with the booth occupants more easily. 

The mystery needed to be easy to set up, easy to maintain, and include the whole arena. The most cost effective format was 2D. The mystery contest had its own booth containing above poster representing the crime scene, clue charts, entry forms and prize baskets so that people could play at any time.  Cards were hidden throughout the venue with information about the suspects. The mystery read:

Late last night, while you were sleeping, a mysterious shadow snuck into the fair grounds. They carefully pried all of the precious gems from the carousel horse and replaced them with candy; then they disappeared into the darkness. Who stole the jewels? Can you follow the clues and Crack the Case?

• Collect your Clue Sheet at the Mystery Booth
• Examine the Crime Scene for Clues
• Hunt down evidence on the Suspects throughout the Trade Fair
• Drop off your solution at the Mystery Booth to entry to win great prizes

There were four prize baskets themed after the four suspects. Contestants placed their entry form in the container beside the basket they wanted to wind. Our man on the spot, Tony Berryman, said the hardest thing for people was to figure out which basket they want to win.

This was Fern’s Basket. The carousel hidden in the middle is a music box;  horses go up and down and it lights up. Fern’s basket was the most popular as far    as prize baskets go but then many of the entrants pre-teen. Her fingerprints and a few other clues were found at the crime scene.

Old McDonald’s Basket is filled with an assortment of stuffies and other animals types. Old McDonald is the villian who stole the precious gems from the carousel horse and replaced them with candy. Farming isn’t cheap you know.

Patsy Produce’s Basket is pretty exciting too. It includes a teapot in the shape of a head of lettuce with a radish on top of the lid. You can just barely make it out at the back of the basket. There is also a flower garden snow globe filled with glitter instead of snow. Patsy has a pet monkey, an appalling pet for a produce person to have.

Finally there is Zoltar the Fortune Teller. It’s hard to make out the blue crystal star hanging from the handle of the basket but hang there it does.
All in all, it was a wonderful add-on to a fantastic trade fair.