The 2017 Pennsylvania Farm Show

Every year during the month of January the Pennsylvania Farm Show comes to Harrisburg and is held in the Farm Show Complex & Expo Center at 2300 North Cameron Street. People from all over the country flock to Harrisburg to participate and/or visit the PA Farm Show every year. This is one of the biggest attractions that central Pennsylvania has to offer.

Parking can be a real nightmare so I highly suggest you visit their web site to learn where all of the parking lots are at and take the shuttle down to the complex & expo center. Parking can cost you up to $15.00 per vehicle, depending on where you park. Vehicles that have handicap passengers who have the official handicap plaque, can find handicap parking in the parking lot right in front of the Farm Show Complex. With that said, the handicapped area fills up fast during the weekend, so try to plan your visit during a weekday.

Once you are inside the main entrance you can go left or right and there is an information center right inside the door. I suggest you take the free program guide which includes a schedule of events and a nice map to help you navigate around the complex. We typically head left and start exploring from there. If you have small children along with you, please talk to them about staying close to you and not running off. This event is extremely crowded and at times...wall-to-wall people.

The arenas, show rooms and halls are all broken down into the type of animals that are being displayed. While going from one area to another you can see horses, cows, steers, sheep, goats, lambs, alpacas, ducks, chickens, geese, turkey and all kinds of other wildlife that is farmed in the great state of Pennsylvania.

At any given time you can find various judging competitions going on in the arenas. In addition to these competitions, you can see a rodeo too, depending on the day and time you're visiting. My husband likes to see the horse pulls and some of the cattle competitions/judging when we visit.

When you are walking around you will find many areas where the kids can stop to pet the various animals. During the afternoon that we were there, my granddaughter got to pet a calf, adult cows, a horse, alpaca, ducks, alpacca, baby piglets and a rabbit. So, if the kids like visiting petting zoos, they would definitely enjoy this experience!

The food court is always packed but visiting it is well worth it! You can buy delicious baked potatoes, pork sandwiches, the famous Farm Show milkshakes, cotton candy, beef jerky, maple syrup, honey, chicken wings, fresh PA. grown produce, soft pretzels, hot dogs, pork sausages, candy, desserts and all kinds of other things!!! Every time we visit the PA. Farm Show we treat ourselves to a delicious chocolate milkshake and a baked potato. Oh my gosh, they are so good!

After visiting the food court area you'll want to head down to see the famous Pennsylvania Farm Show Butter Sculpture. Every year, a new design and theme is chosen for the butter sculpture and thousands of visitors come to the PA. Farm Show every year to see it. The butter sculpture is housed in a glass paneled refrigerator unit. This allows visitors to walk around it and see it from different angles.

Visiting the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show is an activity that my family looks forward to doing every year when the PA. Farm Show is in town. If you are ever in the area or can spring for a little road trip, we highly recommend that you visit. You can learn more by visiting the Pennsylvania Farm Show official site online.

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You can find information and photos from previous Pennsylvania Farm Show visits by visiting the Pennsylvania section right here on our travel blog or by visiting our Pennsylvania board over on Pinterest.