The city of Harrisburg is located on the ancestral homelands of the Susquehannock people.

The New Year in Pennsylvania – at least in our family – means two things: pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day and a trip to the PA Farm Show. 

I made my first trip to the Farm Show in 2014, and it’s been an annual tradition for us ever since. 

We visited on the opening Saturday, arriving at the complex around 10 a.m. after our shuttle ride from the parking lot on Elmerton Avenue. (That was after 15 minutes in traffic waiting to turn onto the lot and another 10 waiting for our shuttle). 

One of the challenges about navigating the Farm Show is that it is really a series of events happening simultaneously which makes it hard to plan where to go and when. We decided to start our day in the GIANT Exposition Hall, home to the Food Court, tractor and equipment vendors, and some of the larger partner displays. 

Our boys each took turns climbing up onto the tractors and riding mowers before we stopped to check out the Choo Choo Barn’s mobile train display. I think the kids would have been content to stay there most of the day, but we cut them off after 10 minutes so we could continue on. 

This year – 2026 – was the 110th edition of the event, but the celebration was all about America’s 250th. Seemingly every booth was adorned with red, white, and blue to match this year’s theme: “Growing a Nation.” And the America250 PA booth was one of the highlights of the event. 

After signing my name on the replica Liberty Bell in the display, I took my oldest son (Jakob) into the mobile studio to record a video message to commemorate the event. 

We won a frisbee and some stickers on the prize wheel before competing in the PA-themed video game. Players raced their Bantam Jeeps across the PA landscape collecting themed items based on the region: for the southeast, we were collecting coins and American flags along with Rocky Balboa statues and pretzels. Groundhogs and British soldiers did their best to get in the way. 

Before leaving the GIANT Exposition Hall, we had to grab lunch at the Food Court. With so many choices, it’s a bit overwhelming, but the good news is that there are a lot of “right” choices. I had a delicious baked sweet potato with butter and brown sugar while Julie got the fried vegetable sampler – batter-dipped zucchini, onion rings, broccoli and cauliflower with ranch dressing for dipping. Jakob had a corn dog while our picky two-year-old (Lukas) had a plain hot dog. 

The Farm Show Complex is a maze of corridors, arenas and exhibit halls. After our lunch, we took a “shortcut” to the other side of the complex, passing behind the Equine Arena and zipping past the other livestock to get to the Main Hall and one of the signature attractions of the event: the butter sculpture. 

Each year, a larger-than-life diorama is created from a wire frame and hundreds of pounds of butter. This year, in keeping with the Semiquincentennial theme, the sculpture captured the spirit of 1776 with three men signing the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross sewing the flag, and the Liberty proudly displayed, crack and all. 

It’s not every day that you get to meet a celebrity, but we got to do just that when we got our picture taken with Punxsutawney Phil. The country’s preeminent rodent forecaster was taking a nap when we got there, but members of his Inner Circle were kind enough to give the boys some gold Groundhog Day coins to remember the meeting. 

The Main Hall has a lot to offer, including the family living exhibits where the best artists, crafters, photographers, bakers, and sewists had their items on display. 

My wife, Julie, was one of the more than 70 entrants in the America 250 Apron Contest. Sewists from across the state competed at county fairs to earn a chance to compete at the Farm Show. (Julie won at the New Holland Farmers Fair). While she didn’t take home a prize, we were all proud to see her apron on display. 

She did pick up several ribbons for her other sewing projects which made for some nice consolation prizes. 

While we were checking out the other exhibits, baked goods were being judged on a nearby stage. We didn’t realize it at first, but all of the extra cookies, bars, and cake slices were being plated and set out for the taking. We got to enjoy some amazing snickeredoodle cookies with maple icing along with carrot cake and zucchini bread. 

But nothing was as sweet as our milkshakes. The PA Dairymen’s milkshakes are a staple of the farm show. These soft-serve shakes have traditionally come in vanilla, chocolate, or half-and-half. This year for the 250th, the stand was also offering red, white, and blue milkshake flights with vanilla, strawberry, and blue raspberry. We skipped the flights, but Julie and Jakob both tried – and loved – the strawberry shakes while I thoroughly enjoyed my half-and-half. The price for a shake has gone up to $7, we were able to get one free thanks to a coupon we got at the America250 PA booth. 

As if we hadn’t had enough food yet, we made our way over to the Culinary Connections stage. Throughout the day, the stage plays host to cooking demonstrations. We pick up a copy of the recipe book every year and have found a few that are now in our regular rotation. While we were there, it was an Iron Chef-style cooking competition that was a lot of fun.

In the same area, we scanned four aisles of vendors, mostly food and drink purveyors that were offering free samples of their sauces, oils, snacks, and meats. 

Our next stop was the New Holland Arena to watch the reined cow horse competition. Normally, opening Saturday is the high school rodeo, but with an outbreak of equine herpesvirus in the region, the event was cancelled out of an abundance of caution. A new group, the American Reined Cow Horse Association brought their traveling show instead. Instead of roping and barrel racing, the cow horse competitors were tasked with showing off their riding skills and horse control while also working to corral a cow without the use of a rope. 

It wasn’t as exciting, but it was good to sit down in the arena and take a load off our tired feet for a while. 

Our last event we attended on the day was the Fashions with a Flair contest. Julie participated in the event last year, but she was just a spectator with us this time. Many of the sewists who entered their garments in the family living competitions also entered this special fashion contest where they – or the person they made the garment for – walked down the runway to model their work. 

Even if this doesn’t sound like your kind of event, it’s worth attending to see the incredible craftsmanship and creativity on display. 

We left the fashion show a little early to head back to the Food Court for dinner. Jakob wanted pierogies so I picked up an order for myself, too. They’re just potato and cheese (with grilled onions and butter on top), but they are delicious. It wasn’t quite enough food for me so I also got an amazing pit beef sandwich from the Livestock Association’s stand. 

Julie had grilled cheese from the PA Dairymen’s Association and also shared fries with the boys. 

By this time, we were exhausted. And even though we hadn’t seen everything, it was nearing 7 p.m., and we were ready to head home. 

We didn’t miss much during the day, but I would have loved to have spent more time with the animals. We only saw them in passing and didn’t really take the time to walk around and see them all. (We did get to see some cute baby chicks, though). 

And there were other events happening in the two smaller arenas, including a truck and tractor pull demonstration in the evening and a draft horse pull demonstration earlier in the day. 

During dinner we did see a little bit of the Farm Show’s Got Talent competition; hopefully there were more talented people to come because we only got to hear some really young kids trying their hardest to sing some karaoke songs. 

Next year, we’re planning to change our routine and make a trip during the week. (We might have to make two trips because Julie wants to participate in the Fashions with a Flair next year – I volunteered to model if she can make me a nice shirt). We want to see some of the other events like the sheep-to-shawl contest where teams shear sheep, spin their own wool, and weave an intricate design. 

But no matter when it is, we know we will be back again next year to kick off 2027.

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