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The South Florida Fair is an annual
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...
held in
West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...
every January. The fairgrounds site occupies and is located on the site of the former Palm Beach Speedway at the intersection of Southern Boulevard (
US 98 U.S. Route 98 (US 98) is an east–west United States Highway in the Southeastern United States that runs from western Mississippi to southern Florida. It was established in 1933 as a route between Pensacola and Apalachicola, Florida, and has sinc ...
/ SR 80) and Fairground Road, adjacent to the
iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre The iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre is a 20,000-seat open-air (Approx. 8,000 seats under cover and approx. 12,000 lawn seats) music venue in West Palm Beach, Florida. The facility, owned by the South Florida Fairgrounds, is a modern amphitheatre ...
. In 2012, the fair celebrated its 100th anniversary since its founding in 1912. Nearly 500,000 people attend the South Florida Fair each year. The fair features a midway of rides, games, and concessions, themed
exhibition hall A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...
s, an agricultural and livestock
agriplex An agriplex ("agricultural complex"), is a type of community centre found in rural agricultural towns and communities in North America, especially Canada. An agriplex usually includes recreation, sports, and meeting facilities in addition to a lar ...
, and smaller exhibition areas. There is also Yesteryear Village, a history park on the northeastern corner of the property. The
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...
, West Palm Beach Police and security guards are the fair's patrollers.


History

The South Florida Fair began as the ''Palm Beach County Fair'' in March 1912. The first fair took place under a single tent near the Palm Beach County Courthouse in downtown
West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
over a four-day period. Sponsored by prominent local citizens, the fair aimed to showcase livestock, winter crops, and real estate, with farmers receiving monetary prizes from
Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founde ...
. In 1913, the fair moved to the railroad depot, located just north of its previous location. After the fair experienced growth in its early years, the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
forced it to only operate a carnival midway between 1930 and 1937, before being discontinued altogether. The
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
in December 1941 disrupted plans to restore the fair in 1942. The fair resumed in 1946 at the
National Guard Armory A National Guard Armory, National Guard Armory Building, or National Guard Readiness Center is any one of numerous buildings of the U.S. National Guard where a unit trains, meets, and parades. A readiness center supports the training, administrati ...
in West Palm Beach. Two years later, the fair moved to
Morrison Field Palm Beach International Airport is a public airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, located just west of the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, which it serves as the primary airport for. It is also the primary airport for most o ...
(now the Palm Beach International Airport) and stayed until the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
converted the airport to a military base for the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
a few years later. In 1953, the fair incorporated as an organization. Between then and 1955, the fair was held at the Palm Beach Speedway, near the present site of the South Florida Fairgrounds. The fair moved to the current location of
Palm Beach State College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 27,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associa ...
's (then known as Palm Beach Junior College) Lake Worth campus in 1956 after being deeded by the Palm Beach County government. However, the county reversed its decision and deeded the land to PBJC instead, forcing the fair to move to
John Prince Memorial Park John Prince Memorial Park is a park located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The park covers 726.36 acres (338 of which are acres of Lake Osborne) and is managed by the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department. Most of the park is on the wes ...
in 1957. Later that year, the fair bought the Palm Beach Speedway property, comprising about . The acquisition of the land occurred in June via the fair organization selling $100,000 in bonds and receiving matching funds from the
Florida Department of Agriculture The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is an executive department of the government of Florida. The Commissioner of Agriculture (directly elected by voters statewide for a four-year term, and a member of the Florid ...
after depositing $30,000. Additionally, Palm Beach County donated about in exchange for the property at John Prince Memorial Park, to be used to expand PBJC. Construction on two exhibition halls began on June 10. Finally, on January 27, 1958, the fair began operating at its present location. In 1960, the ''Palm Beach County Fair'' was renamed the ''South Florida Fair''. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, South Florida Fair & Palm Beach County Expositions, Inc. scaled-back the January 2021 event, with all exhibits, shows, and vendors remaining outdoors, while only
kiddie ride A kiddie ride - or kids' ride - is a coin-operated amusement ride for young children. Kiddie rides are commonly available in amusement parks, arcades, malls, hotel game rooms, outside supermarkets and discount department stores. Less commonly ...
s were operated. The organization also developed a COVID-19 safety plan, which required attendees, employees, vendors, and volunteers to follow
CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
guidelines. However, a full-fledged fair event in 2021 was held from May 7-May 23. The 2022 event saw the resumption of the typical, full-fledged fair held in the month of January, as well as the removal of most pandemic-related restrictions.


Organization

The South Florida Fair and Palm Beach County Expositions, Inc. is a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
corporation organized and existing pursuant to Chapter 616 of the
Florida Statutes The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...
. It has a
board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
that consists of 17 people who are responsible for setting policy and seeing that management of the association is carried out under direction of an executive staff consisting of the president/CEO and currently two vice presidents. The fair also has directors who serve in an advisory capacity. There are currently 55 directors. The trustees and directors are non-paid volunteers. The day-to-day operation is the responsibility of the president, Rick Vymlatil, who oversees a staff of over 45 full-time employees.


Economic impact

According to a study released in 2000 by Economic Research Associates, Inc., the South Florida Fairgrounds generated a total economic impact of $149,924,000 in 1999. This was prior to the development of the Expo East Exhibit Hall, the enhancement of Yesteryear Village (including the new Bink Glisson and the Sally Bennett "Big Band Hall of Fame") and the aggressive marketing of the Americraft Expo Center exhibit floor space. In addition, the Cruzan Amphitheatre alone is estimated to generate an economic impact in excess of $20 million. But not only does the Fair generate a significant economic impact, it makes a substantial annual cash distribution to the youth of this area from its own resources. In the 2007/08 fiscal year, the South Florida Fair paid in excess of $200,000 in scholarship and 4-H premium awards, compensation to choruses and bands performing during the annual Fair, and contributions to Palm Beach County schools through its Partners-In-Education Advance Ticket program.


Fairgrounds

Approximately comprise the property known as the South Florida Fairgrounds. In 1957,
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
gave the fair at its present site but later took back for the stockade. This contribution was made in consideration of the fair agreeing to relocate from John Prince Park in order that the county could vie for a state university (PBCC). The fairgrounds is partitioned into several pods or tracts: the parking tracts, Yesteryear Village, the Coral Sky Amphitheatre, and the exhibit buildings, including the Americraft Expo Center and the Agriplex. The space available on the fairgrounds for trade shows and exhibits exceeds . During the annual South Florida Fair, the southern parking tract is utilized as the "midway" containing rides, shows, games, and concessions.


Events

The main event on the fairgrounds is the annual South Florida Fair, which occurs over a 17-day period, generally in the last two weeks of January each year. Over the past several years, the annual fair has incorporated a theme as a means of stimulating tourism as well as the educational and cultural interest of the residents of Palm Beach County. For instance, "Florida" was featured at the 1998 fair and "Alaska"; "Tales of the American West"; "New England"; "Hollywood"; "Having a Ball"; "Dreams, screams, thrills, chills"; "Party with the Animals"; and "A World of Fun" were showcased in previous fairs. One of the greatest aspects of the annual fair is its agricultural and livestock exhibits which clearly provide the greatest variety of such exhibits anywhere within Palm Beach County. Even though agriculture is such a tremendous part of Palm Beach County's economic base, many school children have never been exposed to it. However, at the annual South Florida Fair, not only can they see and learn all about agriculture, but can even witness a calf being born, or learn how a dairy is operated. The annual fair attracts nearly 500,000 people through its turnstiles. However, 650,000 people will attend various events on the fairgrounds on an annual basis. Besides the . Americraft (now South Florida Fair) Expo Center, there are 10 other smaller exhibit buildings along with the Cruzan Amphitheater, Agriplex, Palm Beach Model Railroaders and Yesteryear Village. These events constitute 250 event days.


Yesteryear Village

Yesteryear Village is a history park and exhibit on , showcasing buildings and artifacts from the 1850s to the 1950s. It exhibits a large collection of early, original, and replicated buildings, including an old school, a farm, a blacksmith shop, a general store, a church, a fire department, a post office, a bait & tackle shop, and the famed
Riddle House The Riddle House is an old Edwardian house located in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida. The house was built in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1905 by some of Henry Flagler's hotel construction workers. Originally known as "Gatek ...
. Included is the only big band museum in the United States, the Sally Bennett Big Band Hall of Fame Museum. Guided tours are available.


See also

*
Americraft Expo Center The Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds (also known as the South Florida Fair), formerly the Americraft Expo Center, is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose venue in West Palm Beach, Florida, located at 9067 Southern Boulevard, within a few miles o ...


References


External links

* {{coord missing, Florida Festivals in Florida Tourist attractions in Palm Beach County, Florida West Palm Beach, Florida 1912 establishments in Florida Recurring events established in 1912