Fun for Everyone

Yearly North Florida Fair

Photo by Everett Slocum/Maclay Andalusian

This year, the North Florida fair ran from Nov. 7 to 17. Located on Paul Russell Road in Tallahassee, the fair attracts more than 130,000 visitors from all over Florida and Georgia every year. 

To enter the fair, visitors can purchase a $45 VIP pass, which grants unlimited rides, or a general admission pass, which costs $10 for adults and $7 for youth.

One main attraction of the fair was the animal exhibits. This included a petting zoo that contained an african spur thigh tortoise named “Godzilla,” a red kangaroo, multiple llamas, alpacas, Asian water buffalos and more. Kids especially enjoyed the animal exhibit and were able to purchase a carrot cup or grain to feed the animals.

Another popular fair attraction was the variety of food vendors. For food vendors to sell their items at the fair, they had to apply beforehand and pay a fee of $400 per booth. The fair contains a diverse array of food choices, including buckets of fries, Korean corn dogs and frozen bananas. Additionally offered were food combinations, such as a donut burger, where two donuts replaced the buns of a burger, and a pickle Dr. Pepper, where pickles are placed in a cup of dr. pepper. Anything imaginable was deep fried, including candy bars, pickles, oreos and cheesecake.

As per every year, many visitors at the fair were for the rides. These included a large and small ferris wheel, a carousel, teacups and multiple swing rides.

“The rides were definitely the best part,” freshmen Brennan Abatecola said. “My favorite was the zero gravity one where you spin in a circle really fast and the force presses you against the wall.”

Live performances were also a popular attraction. There were magicians and pig racing. During the pig race, pigs raced around a circular track, with food buckets along the way that caused some pigs to stop and others to get ahead.

The fair also held various competitions. Many people submitted works in hopes of securing a ribbon. There were competitious for the best-looking plants, crops, art, tailoring and even a competition for home-baked goods.

Popular games included “break the bottle,” ring toss and “beat the guesser.” In “beat the guesser,” an employee had to guess either the player’s age, birth month or weight. If they were correct or close to it, the player did not win a prize.

“I run the goldfish game and have worked here for 20 years,” a fair worker said. “My favorite part about working here is the kids’ smiles.”