Florida State Fair

From Florida State Fair Website:

February 8-19, 2017

Florida State Fairgrounds
4800 U.S. 301,
Tampa, FL

The year was 1904. The American Flag had 45 stars, Theodore Roosevelt was president and the average American earned 22 cents per hour. It was the year that T.J. Laud-Brown, the manager of the Tampa Bay Hotel convinced the city founders and the rail line that they needed to bring the South Florida Fair to the grounds of the Tampa Bay Hotel. The South Florida Fair Association was formed and plans for a new exhibition were proposed. That first Fair was held on a 27-acre plot adjoining the Henry B. Plants Tampa Bay Hotel, now known as the University of Tampa. The attractions were simple, as there were five races to bet on and the various agricultural exhibits were showcased in just one building.

Soon after, the event became known as the Florida State Mid-Winter Festival and was the place to be! Families from near and far would come to the festival. Children would play games, eat popcorn and Fairy Floss while their parents won bragging rights for their prized Bull, the best pie, or the most beautiful quilt. In 1915 when Articles of Incorporation for the South Florida Fair and Gasparilla Carnival were filed with the Secretary of State office in Tallahassee, the Fair became known as the Florida State Fair.