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 For some good wholesome family fun you aren’t going to want to miss the 73rd Annual Howard County Fair. An American tradition,  the fair is a celebration of Howard County’s farming past and present.

The Howard County Fair offers something for all ages including: interactive exhibits, livestock exhibits, agricultural displays, petting zoo, contests, entertainment, amusement rides and games, food and loads of family-oriented fun.

Featured events at the fair are: horse shows, pony rides, Antique tractor pulls, and livestock competitions, 4-H shows/exhibits, Demo Derby, Rodeo, Horse-Pulling Contest, Antique Automobile Show, Pie Eating Contest, Pig Races, Bingo, AG Displays and Farm produce. Enjoy some of the area’s best live music, from rock and country, to bluegrass.

Schedule of Some Featured Events:
Pig Races – 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, & 8pm
Bingo Hall – Opens Daily at 6pm
Pony Rides – 10am – 10pm
AG Displays – Daily
Farm Produce – Daily

Mule Pulling Contest First Sat @ 9am
Coon Mule Jump – immediately after the Mule Pulling Contest
Horse Pulling Contest – First Sat- @ 10am
Antique Tractor Pull – First Sat @ 4pm
Draft Horse & Mule Show – Sun @ 8:30 am
Pretty Animal Contest – Sun @ 11am
Pie Eating Contest-Sun @ 12:30
Sheep Dog Demonstrations – Sun – 4, 6, & 8pm.

Kids and Critters – Barn Hours @ 10:30 am – 2pm & 4pm – 8:30pm
Parade of Floats -Sat, Aug 11 @ 5pm

Auto Demolition Derby#1– Wed, Aug 8 @ 7pm
Auto Demolition Derby#2 – Sat, Aug 11@ 6pm

For a complete schedule of events: HowardCountyFair.org

Family time that’s  so much fun and affordable. Parking for the Howard County Fair is always FREE!

Location: Howard County Fairgrounds, 2210 Fairgrounds Rd, West Friendship, MD 21794
Date: Aug 4th – 11th, 2018
Time: daily from 8am – 11pm
Tel: 410-442-1022
howardcountyfair.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visithowardcounty.com

Join the Carroll County Farm Museum for a Chincoteague Pony-themed tea. Program includes: book signing, luncheon and meet a real Chincoteague pony.

Tea features a boxed lunch with ice cream and lemonade. After tea, learn about the Chincoteague ponies and their wetlands with fun facts, colorful slides and inspirational stories with a presentation given by children’s author Lois Syzmanski  on the wild ponies of Chincoteague.

Afterwards, visit with a real Chincoteague Pony and horse trainer, Summer Barrick.

Spots are limited. Reservations by September 15 –  800-654-4645.

Location: Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S Center St, Westminster, MD 21157
Date: Sat,  Sept 30, 2017
Time: 11 – 1pm
Tel: 800-654-4645
carrollcountyfarmmuseum.org/event/pony-tea/?instance_id=438
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: carrollcountytourism.org

The 72nd Annual Howard County Fair kicks off on Saturday, August 5th through Saturday, August 12th, 2017. The fair is a  celebration of Howard County’s farming past and present.

An American tradition loaded with wonderfully wholesome family fun including: magic shows, clowns, balloon artists, carnival rides and games, interactive exhibits, educational demonstrations, livestock exhibits, musical entertainment, an animal petting zoo and appetizing food.

The Howard County Fair hosts horse shows, pony rides, Antique tractor pulls, and livestock competitions, 4-H shows/exhibits, Demo Derby, Rodeo, Horse-Pulling Contest, Antique Automobile Show, Pie Eating Contest,  Pig Races, Bingo, AG Displays and Farm produce. Enjoy some of the area’s best live music, from rock and country, to bluegrass and oldies.

There is also a PRCA All American Pro Rodeo on August 8th & 9th, 7:00 pm as well as a Demolition Derby on August 9th & 12th – 7:00 pm.

Schedule of Some Featured Events:

Horse-Pulling Contest – First Saturday @ 10:00 am

Antique Tractor Pull – First Saturday @ 4:00 pm

Antique Automobile Show – Sunday from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Pie Eating Contest – Sunday @ 12:00 noon

Pretty Animal Contest – Sunday @ 11:00 am

Miss Howard County Farm Bureau Contest,
Future Howard County Farmer, and
Little Miss Howard County Farm Bureau Contest – Sunday @ 3:00 pm

Mule Pulling Contest – First Saturday @ 9:00 am

Coon Mule Jump – First Saturday, immediately after Mule Pull

Howard County’s Got Talent – Thursday @ 7:00 pm

Baby Contest Miniature Parade – Last Saturday @ 10:00 am

Parade of Floats – Last Saturday @ 5:00 pm

It’s been a local favorite for almost 25 years, Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival still has legs; frog legs that is. Bring your family and friends and enjoy live music, crafters, midway rides, games, bull riding, petting zoo, pony rides and the main event – the Frog Legs and Gator Tails. 

Fellsmere has been proclaimed Frog Leg Capital of the World and The Frog Leg Festival holds 2 Guinness Book World Records for The Most Frog Legs served in the course of one business day and the Largest Frog Leg Festival in the world. With over 80,000 attendees serving over 7,000 pounds of frog legs and 2,000 pounds of gator, the Frog Leg Festival has come a long way from its humble roots of 400 dinners.

There’s something for everyone. Money raised at this event goes towards the recreational needs of the children of Fellsmere.

Free Admission. Free Parking. Free Shuttle Parking at MESA park Saturday 1pm – 11:30pm and Sunday 1pm – 6:30 pm.

Location: Fellsmere City Complex, 22 South Orange St., Fellsmere, FL 32948
Dates: Jan 19th – 22nd, 2017
Hours: Thurs, Fri 4pm – 11pm, Sat 10am – 11pm, Sun 11am – 6pm
Tel: 772-571-0250
froglegfestival.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: indianriverchamber.com
sebastianchamber.com

Walterboro, SC Exit 57:  Mark your calendars for the Colleton Center’s 8th Annual charity game- Polo for the Point. Learn all about this exciting sport while watching an exhilarating polo match, all for a great cause.

Each polo team consisted of four people on horses and the game lasts for eight chukkas, each of which is seven minutes long. Gate open at noon, pre-game activities begin at 1 pm, with the actual  Benefit Game taking place from  2 – 4pm.

Festivities include: Best Tailgate and Best Hat Contests, Foxhunting Demonstrations, Benefit Match and Stomping of the Divots and wonderful children’s activities: Facepainting, Pony Rides, Balloons by Becky and Trick or
Treating.

Don’t forget to bring your tailgate, as no other foods or drinks will be sold. Proceeds will be used to continue the preservation and restoration of the Colleton Center.

Location:Limehouse Polo Grounds, Highway 15 North, 7201 Jefferies Highway Walterboro, SC
Date: Sun, Oct 30, 2016
Time: Gates open at Noon: 1pm – 4pm
Tel: 843-549-8360
thecolletoncenter.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: walterborosc.org

Parc Safari has something for everyone in your family. It is wayyyy beyond a drive around to see exotic animals, though that is an amazing part of the day. The water park, with its three lagoons (one with a waterfall), tube ride, and especially the new sculpturally beautiful splash pad/slide Lagon des dauphins, can be a whole day in itself. This new area offers up 8 water slides and 60 water games.  Here’s a tip: if you go there, keep your eye on the yellow pail of water.

Besides the safari drive, you can walk around three animal areas. We’re talking 500 animals, folks, in about 60 different species: elephant, bison, deer, camel, tiger, lion, water buffalo, yak, zebra, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, wildebeest, eland, black bear, monkeys, etc.  You can find great scrabble words as you come across the oryx, addax, gaur and onager.  Learning about the animals is fascinating:  giraffes only sleep 20 min a day, swan couples mate for life,  zebras are black with white stripes  (finally found that out!) and Shaka the lion is a movie star, having appeared in the film “The Aviator” with Leonardo DiCaprio.

There is no way you cannot be wowed by the lion and tiger clear glass tunnels which you walk through and are separated by a mere 3 cm.  from these beautiful beasts. Have you ever gone eye-to-eye with a giraffe? Well you can do that here too.

A lovely part about Parc Safari is that you hardly have to put your hand in your pocket once you pay to get in ($113.86  for a family of 4, or under $100 with a CAA discount). They allow you to bring your own lunch, and have endless amount of picnic tables in the shade, grass, and even a sandy beach.  The staff in the parc actually give you the food to feed the bears or monkeys, etc.  You can bring your own carrots to feed the safari animals – it’s so much fun to watch as they chew and crunch right in your face.

If you decide to lunch at Parc Safari, besides your burgers, pizza and hot dogs, you can munch chicken burgers, smoked meat, sausages, waffles, fruit smoothies, poutine (mais oui!) and even grab a beer. It costs about $8-$14 for the restaurant meals and $6-$7 in the cafeteria.

For those who like rides, there are still some retro ones that bring huge smiles (and screams) to both young and old. Where else can you spend a day on all the rides you want, as many times as you want for a measly $3 per person? The few extras in the parc are so minimal: a pony ride is only $4, and one on the camel is $6. The tube ride is a mere $2.  If you want to buy a box of animal food, it’s only a tooney.

Especially endearing is the  “custom spray” tilt-a-whirl ride. You do not have to go high tech to make customers happy on a hot day – all you need is a hose. As you get on this ride, a gentleman ask if you would like to get sprayed as you pass him; you can say yes or no, and even ask for a little or a lot. Where else can you select-a-preference-water-factor on a ride?

On a busy day the 45 min safari adventure can take up to 2 hours. This is NOT necessarily a negative. We must learn to slow ourselves down to the pace of nature. If you are inching along, sitting in the comfort of your air-conditioned car, you get to really take the time to watch the animals live and interact.  Babies are being shown what to do by their mommas, bisons are rolling in the dirt to scratch themselves, animals’ chests are rising and falling as they take a siesta, and yes they’re  peeing and pooing too – still a thrill for the kids. You can feed and even touch some of the species as they come up to visit you at your car window.

And we haven’t even gotten to the six stage shows and eight animal feedings or les Filouminous characters who wander around the park giving hugs.  There is so much to do that you can turn this in to a staycation weekend. Look on their site for reasonably priced 1 and 2-day packages, including an overnight in nearby motels or campsites.

Parc Safari is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year so to celebrate they are having a contest with over $8,000 in prizes. You can win a backyard swing set, a safari package, summer camp at the Cosmodome, and gift certificates and passes. You can go online to fill out the form:  www.clikici.ca/ralleye-safari-2012.php

If you haven’t been to Parc Safari since you were a kid, it’s time to go back. The best deal is that if you add $20 to your admission price, you get a season passport.  Divide that all up into many days of fun and it is really pennies to enjoy this entertaining gem right at our doorstep.

Location: 280 Rang Roxham, St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, QC, J0J 1V0
Tel: 450 247-2727
Summer Hours: 10-5 for the safari, 10-7 for the parc  (less hours in Spring and Fall)
www.parcsafari.com