It is time once again for the South Florida Fair! The two weeks every year where young and old come out to the fairgrounds for some fun.

Where: South Florida Fairgrounds
When: Jan 17 – Feb 2, 2014

View the schedule here
Get your tickets here

Everyone loves the rides, music and good old-fashioned fair food, but there is a lot more that the South Florida Fair puts into this fantastic event.

Here are a few of my favorite events.

The Expo!

With over 80,000 square feet at their disposal, the Expo Center hosts a fantastic expo. This year the expo will be dedicated to New York City. Guests will be able to watch the construction of the Statue of Liberty using more than 200 tons of sand which are being recycled from the use in the Sandi Holiday tree in Downtown West Palm Beach.

Shows that will be in the Expo Center will range from Catherine Hickland, the Comedy Hypnotist to Rosstyn Ice Shows presents “New York on Ice”.

This year there also will be a public ice skating rink set up for visitors to enjoy.

Music and Concerts for everyone

The South Florida Fair does an excellent job in not just bringing in big names to play, but also holding competitions, musical talent shows and more.

This year the South Florida Fair will be featuring a classic rocker in Eddie Money as well as recent The Voice stars in Cassadee Pope as well as the Swon Brothers.  Also performing will be Craig Morgan, The Lone Bellow & The Leroy Van Dyke Country Gold Tour.

Click here to see the full schedule of concerts.

Crazy awesome Animal Shows

My all time favorite show at the fair was the “Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show” (pictured below) where rescued dogs were taught some pretty fantastic tricks.

 

 

While the Extreme Canines won’t be at the fair this year, there will be plenty of wild animal fun.

Horse Demos, Dairy Goat shows, Adult & Youth Rabbit Shows, and the always popular Pig Races.

Supporting Health and Local Schools with the South Florida Fair Kids Mile

The South Florida Fair Kids Mile is a 12 week training program that enables kids to complete a full marathon (26.2 miles) by running approximately 2 miles per week.

The program is completed in grand fashion on the first Saturday of the Fair at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach as each child is able to run the final mile of the marathon.

Schools compete for who can bring the most kids to the race – South Olive Elementary has won the $1000 prize over the last few years. This year South Olive Elementary is leading the way with 297 children (nearly half the school) signed up

This year’s run will be at 8am on Saturday, January 18!

Yesteryear Village

Want to see how the original pioneers lived in Florida over the years? Yesteryear village is a village that was created from actual homes that have been moved to this area. You can walk through many homes, visit the Post Office.

During the South Florida Fair the Yesteryear Village hosts various events hosted by volunteers who are all dressed for the period.

This is a picture of  volunteers Gina Sauber and John at the Corbett House.  This is an original building from the early 1900′s. It was called a line shack and it was built for the cowboys that would stay in it for a few days. While the cowboys were there they had to cook their meals over an open camp fire.

And much, much more…

There is so much more to do at the South Florida Fair!

The Opening Ceremony of the Fair is on Friday the 17th at 11:30 am & Admission to the Fair is FREE if you attend . Also if you come anytime on Friday the 17th, you will get a free ticket to return another day.  Return ticket valid January 18 through February 2, 2014 only.