Manatee County Fair Opens Today

Today marks the 96th County Fair opening in Manatee County and while organizers are preparing for a great year, they are already looking forward to the fair's Centennial as they continue to add improvements to the fairgrounds ever year.

As always, this year's fair is a celebration of history, of agriculture of arts and crafts, food and fun. It's also an annual rite of passage for children and adults in the crisp January air. It's part of Manatee County's heritage.

This year's theme is a "Star Spangled Year," said Fair Manager Daniel West. The fair will be dressed up in red, white and blue in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the national anthem's roots to the war of 1812, when Francis Scott Key began penning the song after witnessing The British Royal Navy's bombardment of Fort McHenry.

This Star Spangled event includes the traditional livestock competitions, midway rides and food galore. It also includes top notch entertainment. The daily fair schedule is available online and the fair's website includes special pricing days.

For today's opening, gate prices are $4 for adults and $2 for children 6 to 12. That's half off of the regular gate prices for adults.

But if you want to wait for a night with music you can dance to, Jeff Cook, a founding member of Alabama, will perform Friday night with his Allstar Goodtime Band.  Cook described their music as "funtry" saying it's a mix of country and just fun music. The will play some original tunes, but will also have some Carolina Beach music in the mix, as well as cover songs from a variety of bands. Don't expect to come out to hear Alabama.

But if you are a longtime Alabama fan, there is some good news. Alabma is getting together in 2012 for a limited U.S. tour beginning in February. All of the dates have not yet been set. So far Oklahoma, Texas and California are on the schedule.

The Allstar Goodtime Band will play at the county fair along with local musician Jake Castro, a 10-year-old a premier student at the Del Couch Music Education Foundation a school where Cook has agreed to be a celebrity mentor.

"Because we play a wide variety of stuff, if you stay long enough we’ll play something you like," Cook said. "We do some new stuff, original stuff. But also proven hits that the public likes. We are there to entertain."

When Alabama quit touring in 2004 Cook said he wasn't ready to pull out the rocking chair, so he started the Allstar Goodtime Band. The new band is all about having fun, he said.

"I wasn't ready to quit," said the musician who has been playing gigs since he was 13. "I guess they'll put me away holding on to a guitar one day."

His new band tours the country as well and will take to the road a couple of times a month.

But if you are going for the blue ribbon contests, you won't want to miss the recipes from the cooking and baking contests. The fair has received more than 200 food entries this year.

And for the first time this year the fair will feature a butter sculptor who wil spend his time at the fair in a refrigerated glass enclosure sculpting a manatee exhibit from butter, West said. Yes, were talking sea cows made from butter.

There will be more than 45 exhibits in the exhibit hall and 60 food vendors, not including those on the midway. That means, Elephant ears, barbecue sandwiches, deep fried vegetables, turkey on a stick, chicken on a stick, along with the tried and true corn dogs and pizza.

Beyond the tradition and the pure fun of it all, the fair raises money for scholarships for students and for youth programs throughout the county. It also goes into further improving the fairgrounds, which double as a staging area in disasters and other emergencies in the county.