Volusia County Fair shines with family-friendly enjoyable on opening night time

• The Volusia County Fair started its 11-day run, drawing households with traditions outdated and new.
• Attractions embrace carnival rides, unique meals like Pickle Pizza, and the Disc Connected K9s canine present.
• The truthful runs day by day by means of November 16 on the Volusia County Fairgrounds in DeLand.

DELAND — Noshing on sirloin suggestions, listening to nation music from an area band, Ted and Katrina Williams have been embracing a time-honored household custom on opening night time of the Volusia County Fair.

“We’ve been coming here since we were little,” stated Ted, 42, a lifelong Volusia County resident who now lives in Ormond Beach. “My family participated in the livestock exhibits for years.”

Now, Ted and Katrina, a nurse, are introducing their 3-year-old daughter, Sadie, to the family-friendly ambiance of the annual occasion that began its 11-day run on Thursday, Nov. 6, on the Volusia County Fairgrounds in DeLand.

Along with the sirloin suggestions, the couple’s different must-do actions embrace sampling turkey legs and beef jerky, touring the animal reveals and shopping for a plastic memento cup, a transaction that has turn into household custom.

“We’ve got to get that refillable cup every year,” Katrina stated. “We have 15 of them, one for every year that we’ve been together.”

For the Williams household, this 12 months will mark one other milestone, the primary 12 months that younger Sadie will be capable to expertise a trip, almost certainly a spin on the Ferris wheel.

“This is the best time of the year,” Ted stated. “We’d rather come here than Disney World.”

With delicate temperatures and a comparatively modest crowd, opening night time provided all the trimmings which have impressed such loyalty.

On the halfway, children and adults lined as much as be spun, flipped or lifted excessive into the air on rides that beckoned with unique names reminiscent of Zipper, Cyclops and Super Cyclone on flashing marquees.

Volusia County Fair goes to the canines with Disc Connected K9s

Near the doorway gate, the skillful stars of St. Augustine-based Disc Connected K9s sprinted and leapt skyward to make circus catches with joyous ease.

It’s the canine troupe’s 17^th 12 months on the Volusia County Fair, stated Jodi Frederick, who owns and operates the touring present together with her husband, Lawrence.

The couple travels nationwide with the present’s dozen canine stars in a 43-foot motorcoach, to far-flung locations from New Hampshire to North Dakota, California and Texas.

The performing canines are all rescue animals, representing breeds that embrace border collies, Australian shepherds and pit bull mixes.

“Every single show has different dogs, so it isn’t like you see one show and you’re done,” Frederick stated. “Unfortunately, the jokes are always just as bad.”

Volusia County Fair makes a speciality of adventurous consuming

For the culinary adventurous, the array of truthful delicacies stays tantalizingly unique.

Along with staples reminiscent of corn canines and funnel truffles doused in powdered sugar, there have been belly-busting hybrids such because the “Doughnut Burger,” an artery-challenging creation out there for $18 at Burger Bob’s concession stand.

Next door, neon beckoned diners to Spaghetti Eddie’s for Pickle Pizza, “as seen on TikTok.”

And the occasion once more provides a reminder of the limitless potential to deep-fry or wrap bacon round seemingly something, from Oreos to meatballs. The sky is also the restrict, apparently, on the subject of attaching meals gadgets to a stick.

Vendors reward Volusia County Fair as ‘household pleasant’

Beyond the meals, carnival barkers challenged people to toss rings, shoot baskets or carry out different feats to stroll away with a stuffed animal sufficiently big to qualify as a passenger on an interstate carpool lane.

Other distributors offered all the things from leather-based items to cowboy hats and different distinctive gadgets.

“It’s a nice fair,” stated Kim Harmon, tending to the merchandise at family-owned A Step Above Tumblers. The New Smyrna Beach-based firm makes a speciality of 20-ounce stainless-steel tumblers adorned with colourful designs that includes all the things from anime characters to Taylor Swift.

“They keep ice for 8 hours,” Harmon stated. “They keep coffee hot for 8 hours, and they’re dishwasher safe.”

The firm travels yearly to quite a few gala’s statewide however considers Volusia County’s to be among the many finest, Harmon stated.

“It’s very family friendly. There’s no alcohol, so we never see any issues. There are a lot of other fairs where you do. The people that run it are really on the ball.”

If you go

WHAT: Volusia County Fair

WHEN: Daily by means of Nov. 16

WHERE: Volusia County Fairgrounds, 3150 E. New York Ave. in DeLand.

HOURS: Gates open at 4 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. on Sundays all through the occasion’s 11-day run.

COST: Advance tickets at $12 for ages 13 and older, $8 for ages 6-12, can be found on-line at volusiacountyfair.com. At the gate, admission shall be $15 (ages 13 and older) and $10 (ages 6-12). Age 5 and below free with grownup admission.

ONLINE: volusiacountyfair.com