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Osceola County Fair February 14-23, 2020 “By the skin of a
cow’s tooth” By: Lar
r y Ber ry With everything that’s happened over the past few
months, we give thanks for being able to get our fair in be- fore the world stopped revolving. The Osceola County Fair was held February 14 – 23, 2020 and one of the last fairs/ festivals in Florida to be held. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the youth and fairs who were not as lucky as we were, with some not opening at all and a few having to close in the middle of their fair. Opening Day of the Osceola County Fair went off at 3PM
on Friday with a salute to our military, veterans, and first responders, who had free entry. Gateway High School marching band and the JROTC honor guard from Osceola High School presented the colors and performed the an- them, members of our first responders were present includ- ing the County Sheriff, and we even had members of the Daughters of the American Revolution in costume to partic- ipate in the event. The highlight was a flyover of twoWorld War II T-6 aircraft at the opening ceremony provided by the Kissimmee Warbird Museum. As with any fair, the unex- pected can happen which did; however, a backup plan was already in place. We had contracted with the National Warplane Museum for the B-17 Memphis Belle to fly at the opening; however, a mechanical issue grounded the air- craft just days before the event. One of the things I’ve learned about this industry, always have a backup plan. This year, we added three outdoor exhibits and entertain-
ment venues to the lineup. Our outdoor entertainment in- cluded Rannels Rustics Chainsaw Art, Mobile Glass Stu- dio’s, Disconnected K-9’s, Jurassic Kingdom (who doesn’t love dinosaurs?), Rosaires Racing Pigs, and Eudora Farms Petting Zoo. Our main stage talent included the amazing and inspirational Mandy Harvey who was a finalist on AGT, Selki from The Voice, world class illusionist Noah and Heather Wells, country sensation Tobacco Road Band, and the most diverse lineup of other groups including jazz, beach, bluegrass, rock and country. Opening weekend also brought a first to the Osceola County Fair, with an amazing firework display on Friday and Saturday night. Our new Miss Osceola, Madison Zavitz, was crowned on opening weekend, a change from the usual coronation the second weekend. This opened up her participation for al- most the entire ten-day event, and a change we’ll be mak-
Faircracker SUMMER 2020
ing next year. Attendance was up over 6%,
carnival revenue to KVLS im- proved by over 11%, and gate revenue increased by over 19%, making it a successful fair. We did experience some record cold temperatures on a couple of nights along with some rain, with Mother Nature being one thing as we all know you can’t control. Our animal and 4H shows were both well attended and inspirational, spotlighting some of our youth and the future of Osceola County. Auction sales and pre- miums awarded to these amazing kids was approximately $830,000, and our new hog pens and configuration were a definite hit for that part of the show. We’re already heavy into the planning stages for next
year and looking at entertainment as well as what we can do better next year. We are #FAIRSTRONG, and praying for everyone who have events scheduled in the second half of the year.
Our new tie-out structure is almost complete and definitely will open up possibilities for larger animal
shows. Our current building is 42 X 105 feet, and the new structure gives us a new total of 122 X 105 or
12,800 square feet of covered area. Thanks again to Osceola County for making this happen.
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