HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — The 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show will officially start on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, in Harrisburg. So what’s new this year?
With exciting things to eat and see, the Pennsylvania Farm Show can be a lot of fun. If you make it to the 107th Farm Show, be sure to check out these new exhibits and foods.
Destination Dairy in the Northeast Exhibit Hall will have “Moo U,” a new interactive STEM learning area with hands-on activities for kids. Veterinarians, educators from the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, and the Dairy Excellence Foundation will be there to answer questions about modern dairy farming technology.
Is yoga your thing? Head over to Goat Yoga in the New Holland Arena Concourse for some interactive farm fitness! Even if you are less fitness-oriented, hang out with some adorable goats with the Friends of the Farm Show!
On the topic of fluffy friends, llamas will be at the farm show for the first time this year! Alpacas are a farm show favorite, but now llamas will be in the Equine Arena!
While there are some new animal activities this year, visitors won’t find live poultry exhibits due to avian flu. But they will find other kinds of interactive exhibits about poultry around the show.
As for food (of which there will be plenty), you can’t go wrong with the “PA Preferred Culinary Connection” stage which is open every day, every hour of the farm show. Taste a lineup from new-to-Farm-Show and perennial favorite Pennsylvania chefs. You won’t want to miss these delicious meals!
The Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers, who were new to the farm show in 2022, are returning to the food court. Experience Pennsylvania Polish and Russian heritage with your taste buds by grabbing a Pennsylvania-made pierogi.
As for the logistics of visiting the Farm Show, there are also a few new things to note this year.
Parking costs $15 at any Farm Show Complex-controlled lot, and payment for parking is now cashless. There are machines located throughout the complex that convert cash to pre-paid debit cards if needed.
Also throughout the complex, visitors will find wider aisles to reduce congestion.
There is no mask mandate in place for the 2023 event, but the Farm Show does continue to support vaccinations for all eligible Pennsylvanians. If you are sick, organizers ask you to stay home and enjoy the show via social media. Flu shots and COVID-19 vaccines, along with testing kits, are available from the Department of Health’s exhibit in the Main Hall.
“This year, we are in the full-force mode. We are anxious to host this show, to bring everybody back together again and not put the restrictions on as we had to for the 2022 show. But nonetheless…this show happens during flu season, so be thinking, please, about risk and your own assessment of risk and if this is the right place to be,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding said.
