Fair warning: No animals this year
The on-again, offagain jamboree known as the Broward County Fair is officially on again this year, bringing its carnival rides and deep-fried Oreos to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach on Thursday, Nov. 14.
But manage your expectations. The fair, which returned in 2017 after a five-year hiatus, is smaller than in previous years, having scrapped its usual menagerie of chickens, sheep, goats and other livestock on the fairgrounds. Farm animals aren’t allowed, says spokesman David Faber, after the city of Hallandale Beach passed tougher restrictions on live-animal displays in September.
The fair will kick off at 5 p.m. Nov. 14 with 150 carnival rides, midway games and sideshows, along with 50 food vendors slinging typical fair fare (cotton candy, elephant ears). The carnival expects to draw at least 75,000 visitors over its 10-day run, concluding Nov. 24 at the park where US-1 meets Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
Gulfstream Park should be familiar to longtime fairgoers: Broward County Fair, once a household name with giant crowds, spelling bees and pie-eating contests, had called the park home for several decades until 1996. But the fair’s struggled to find a permanent home ever since, bouncing around multiple cities as officials put up roadblocks against hosting fairs. Since 2014, Lauderhill and Pompano Beach have rejected bids to host the festival. Gulfstream began staging the fair again in 2017.
Topping the bill of attractions is a 100-foot virtual-reality freefall ride called Mission to Mars, along with a gondola wheel, a 100-foot Vertigo swing ride and a 360-degree spinner claw ride called the Rocket.
Also returning is the Broward County Youth Fair and its 40- by 60-foot horticulture tent, plus high-wire acts, magicians and comedians, stilt walkers and jugglers, and a Michael Jackson impersonator. Meanwhile the Broward County Farm Bureau will show off agricultural and horticultural projects.