South Florida Sun Fun Guide

South Florida Fair

2012 South Florida Fair

It's that time of year again - the fair is coming to town! The South Florida Fair is one of the events I look forward to every year, and this year is no exception. The fair runs from January 13-29 this year, and the theme is "100 Years", featuring displays and exhibits from years past. Special centennial events include a pre-opening Ride-a-Thon on January 12; opening ceremonies on January 13th; and the "Party of the Century" on January 14th, with a cocktail reception and catered dinner buffet (reservations required).

Wade Shows is back for a sixth year. Scroll to the bottom of the page to our older update to read about the love that Wade has for amusement rides. You're sure to see rides at the South Florida Fair that are not found elsewhere, and it's one of the reasons we even go!

Discounted tickets are available here through January 12th. The regular (and I LOVE this) use-your-ticket-opening-night-and-come-another-day-for-free is in effect! Senior Days are every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the fair, when admission for seniors (60+) is $7 .

South Florida Fair 2012 Prices
Adult $15
Child ages 6-11 $8
Senior (60+) $9
Ride Wristband M-F $25 (not including admission)
Ride Wristband Sat-Sun $35 (not including admission)
Ride Ticket $1
We noticed no discount for bulk ride ticket purchases, 1 ticket was $1, 20 tickets are $20. Rides start at 3 tickets, most rides are 5 or 6.

Monday, January 23rd is Special Senior Day - only $5 admission for seniors!

South Florida Fair 2012 Shows and Concerts:

General seating at these shows is included with your fair admission. Reserved seating is available here.

JOHN ANDERSON - FRIDAY, JANUARY 13
AARON LEWIS - Acoustic Solo - TUESDAY, JANUARY 17
NEW FOUND GLORY - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18
JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY - THURSDAY, JANUARY 19
FUEL - FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
COLT FORD - TUESDAY, JANUARY 24
ELI YOUNG BAND - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD - THURSDAY, JANUARY 26

Tickets for the following shows include fair admission and can be purchased here.

Sunday, January 15 â€¢ 2:00 p.m - MIA Fest featuring Luis Enrique, Chino & Nacho, Tairon Aguilera, Puerto Rican Salsa Project, DJ Mate, DJ Richard G., DJ Abby, DJ O.D. Blaze and MUCH MORE!!!

Sunday, January 22 at 4:00 p.m - Larry Hernandez in Concert with Alerta Zero & El Triangulo de Oro

See you at the Fair!

2011 South Florida Fair

The 2011 South Florida Fair is January 14-30. This year's South Florida Fair theme is "Really Cool Stuff" which focuses on science, technology, space and the environment. There's the Agrium Seed Survivor exhibit with virtual reality games, seed plantings, and a watershed center. The Wyland Waters Extreme Journey maze turns you into a drop of water, traveling from the sky to the sea.

Wade Shows provides the midway for the fifth year in a row. Scroll to the bottom of the page, in our older update, to read about the love that Wade has for amusement rides. You're sure to see rides at the South Florida Fair that are not found elsewhere.

Discount South Florida Fair tickets are available online through January 14th. The discounts are the same as last year. The discounted fair tickets are also available at Publix.

South Florida Fair 2011 Prices
Adult $15
Child ages 6-11 $8
Senior (60+) $9
Ride Wristband M-F $25 (not including admission)
Ride Wristband Sat-Sun $35 (not including admission)
Ride Ticket $1
We noticed no discount for bulk ride ticket purchases, 1 ticket was $1, 20 tickets are $20. Rides start at 3 tickets, most rides are 5 or 6.

South Florida Fair 2011 Shows and Concerts:

General seating is free with fair admission, reserved seating is available for $10. Reserved tickets are available here.

Saving Abel 1/14 Fri 8pm
Jerrod Niemann 1/18 Tue 7:30p
The Band Perry 1/19 Wed 7:30p
Kansas 1/20 Thu 7:30p
Tenth Avenue North 1/25 Tue 7:30p
The Used 1/26 Wed 7:30p
Travis Tritt Acoustic 1/27 Thu 7:30p

Jan 14 Fiesta Mexicana Friday (Mexican Band Battle)
Jan 14-17 Yesterdayze
Jan 17 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day Celebration
Jan 18 Palm Beach County Chapter Barbershop Quartet
Jan 19 Ben Grisafi & The Sally Bennett Big Band Hall of Fame Orchestra
Jan 20-23 Starz of the Future Competitions
Jan 20 Bike Nite Parade
Jan 20 Roger Rossi & Class Action
Jan 21 Hurricane Harmonizers
Jan 24 SENIOR DAY Sha-Boom / Les Mack & The Southern Gents
Jan 25-30 Dennis Lee
Jan 28 Fiesta Mexicana Friday (Mexican Band Battle)
Jan 29-30 7th Annual Florida Matchplay Championship

Every Day: Bella Luna Cirque
Every Day: Nerveless Nock's Extreme Aerial & Motorcycle Stunt Show
Every Day: Extreme Canine Stunt Dog Show
Every Day: Kandu Magic Show
Weekends: Tyzen Master of Laughter - Hypnosis Show

2010 South Florida Fair
The 2010 South Florida Fair is January 15-31. This year's theme is America's National Parks. Discount tickets are available online until January 14th. The discounts are substantial, particularly on adult tickets, which are $10 advance versus $15 at the gate. You can pick these up at Publix as well. Discounted wristband vouchers are also available, they are priced at $20 advance versus $25 at the fair. There's also a "Mega Saver" priced at a $89 dollars. The big price gets you a lot of fair - 4 admissions, 2 wristbands, and four $5 food tickets. That's more than $40 cheaper than buying these items individually at the fair.

The National Parks theme should fit really well, since the South Florida Fair is more outdoorsy than the average fair, due to Yesteryear Village (Yesteryear Village alone is worth the price of fair admission). Exhibits planned for the National Parks theme include an 8 foot saltwater aquarium and a replica of the Boca Chita lighthouse in Biscayne National Park, a 25 foot waterfall representing Yosemite, a 35 foot replica of a giant Sequoia tree, a working replica of Old Faithful, and quite a bit more! It should be really fun and interesting.

2009 South Florida Fair
The South Florida Fair is back again this year with the super superb Wade Shows midway! The schedule of events is too long to list here, you'll have to roll over to www.southfloridafair.com if you want to see the events and discounts for 09. You can see pictures of the midway at the Wade Shows website.

Making a return appearance is the Pinfari RC-48 roller coaster, the largest mobile roller coaster in the US. In 2008, Wade Show purchased this from Morey's Pier in New Jersey and the South Florida Fair was its first use since 2004. Wade also introduces their new Wisdom Drag Strip Mega Slide , the largest US-made portable slide. The gigantic 8 lane slide is 160' long, over 70' tall, and travels on two 53 foot trailers.

Original article
The South Florida Fair comes to West Palm Beach for three weeks every January and it is absolutely a can't-miss event. There's everything you'd expect at a country fair (from pig racing and mechanical bull riding to arts and crafts), plus a huge midway full of rides and games, a huge exhibition hall with a different theme every year, and a dozen smaller exhibition halls. From historic Yesteryear Village to the 80+ ride midway with its cutting-edge rides and the huge kiddie midway, saying that the South Florida Fair offers something exciting for all ages is not just delivering a sound bite, it's the damn truth.

The main Exposition Center hosts vendors and exhibits with a different theme each year. Smaller exhibition buildings house more vendors and craftspeople, and also a local favorite - the HO scale model railroad room. Animals are everywhere, with contests for the biggest and best, as well as contests for cooking and crafting, and the annual Miss South Florida Fair pageant. A trip into Yesteryear Village takes you back in time through various eras in local history, featuring dozens of restored local historic buildings and houses, with volunteers in period garb to answer all of your questions. The kids love the tractors, steam engines, and fire engines! Yesteryear Village is a fixed part of the fairgrounds and is open year round.

In 2006, Wade Shows replaced Conklin Shows as the midway provider and the fair has never been better! Aside from the large number of rides (almost 90!) in all shapes, sizes, and styles, the units were all immaculate, bright, clean, freshly-painted, and all illumination fully functional. I can't stress enough how impressed I was with the quality and maintenance of the rides. In addition, many had descriptive signs explaining the origins of the rides. The array of rides was just amazing, too - tame kiddie rides (also in near-perfect condition and upkeep) walk-through funhouses and dark rides, the spinning roller coaster Crazy Mouse, and many of the gut-churning "big spinning arms on huge bolted pylons" rides like Spin Out, Space Loop, and the aptly-named Freak Out. A true connoisseur of rides, Wade's owner even brought in Jimmy Drew's one-of-a-kind Seattle Wheel, a 90 foot tall fully restored 15 car Ferris Wheel from the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. Wade pulls together an incredibly well-thought array of rides for this midway and the quality really shines.

And the food... do I need to go into the food? Standard fair fare, with all manner of fried dough, enormous turkey legs, anything you could imagine battered and fried, ice cream, frozen bananas, yummy yummy grilled corn, Mexican-inspired arepas...the list is seemingly endless. It's fun to see the gimmicks the different vendors use to entice the hungry patron - maybe a large tent-covered picnic area or perhaps an animated singing stuffed pig! A new addition this year was a booth serving beer and mixed drinks (at prices not much higher than a local bar), and another offering frozen rumrunners and magaritas.

Throughout the fair you can catch performances by local talent as well as national acts. Information on the shows and events is available at www.southfloridafair.com, there's just too much for me to type.

Admission is $15 for adults and $8 for children under 11. Discounted tickets go on sale at the box office and local outlets in December. Various entrance and ride packages are also available, from one day to several.

Rotary Park Hollywood

Just as every town has a "Veterans Park", they all seem to have a "Rotary Park", and Hollywood in no exception. Rotary Park in Hollywood is primarily a baseball park, with eight fields and five batting cages, but we visited specifically for the boat ramp. The boat ramp didn't seem to be well-used, but the water levels still seemed viable for launching of small crafts. There's lots of parking, though none of it looks trailer-specific, or even long enough for a trailer. Rotary Park also has a clubhouse, a playground, and a nice canal-side boardwalk; however, the non-baseball attraction is minimal, and aside from a possible canoe launch, I won't be back.