The 2008 Florida Strawbery Festival

Yesterday we visited the annual Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, FL.

This is a great American farm fair with exhibits of agriculture, commerce, industry, livestock, fine arts, horticulture, and crafts. We liked seeing all the different kinds of cows, chickens and rabbits!

The fabric of American life is woven into this festival through ethnic traditions, social events, competitive contests, youth developmental programs, top-name entertainment, parades with scores of glorious floats, and high-stepping marching bands.
The festival dates back to 1930 when members of the newly organized Plant City Lions Club conceived the idea of an event to celebrate the bountiful harvest of the strawberries.

Over 5,000 acres of strawberries are planted annually in Florida. There are some 2,600 farms in Hillsborough County (where the festival takes place, just north east of where we live).

One of the main events of the Florida Strawberry Festival is the annual scholarship pageant for the selection and coronation of the Florida Strawberry Festival Queen. Sarah got to take a picture sitting on the Strawberry Throne!

Sarah on the Strawberry Throne

The weather was lovely if a bit hot. We also enjoyed the annual pig race which was a fun event to see!

The field where the pig races took place.

Sarah and I also went on a few of the many rides at the Festival's midway. We even tried one called the Ring of Fire that scared the crap out of me! I pulled a muscle trying to stay in the ride, scared we would fall to a certain death... Sarah wasn't too happy about the ride either. Too scary! But she insisted to try , so...

The Ring of Fire Ride

We also tried the mandatory Strawberry Shortcake, which pretty much is a piece of cake (sockerkaka) with lots of strawberries and then topped off with whipped cream. The portions were huge, the picture below shows how much was left of mine AFTER I was finished eating!

My Strawberry Shortcake after I was done with it! Just imagine how huge it was!

We did get a bit sunbruned after walking around in the sun for over three hours, but it was lots of fun! And I really enjoyed not having stomach problems one single time! Awesome

Sarah and I taking a break from all the walking