Girls Invited To Experience Scouting At Annual Event At Fairgrounds

TAMPA, FL — Girls and their families are invited to kick off the 2023-24 Girl Scout Year at Girl Scouts of West Central Florida’s annual Girl Scout Fest on Saturday, Sept. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Girl Scout Fest is open to girls of all ages and their families to enjoy interactive activities. Participants will explore Girl Scouts' four program pillars — entrepreneurship, life skills, outdoors and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

The fairground’s rural Florida living history museum, Cracker Country, also will be open to all attendees.

Throughout the day, girls will have opportunities to earn Girl Scout badges and patches.

Working with GSWCF’s program partners, Girl Scout Fest will showcase more than 50 hands-on
activities, including capturing memories at HCA’s 360 photo booth, making stress balls with Simply Healthcare and coding robots with CodeFu.

Girls can also earn Tampa General Hospital’s new TampaWell Wellness Warrior patch, participate in a hockey match with Lightning Made Hockey, sample new Sweets & Treats products, make homemade butter with the Dairy Council of Florida and spend time with GSWCF Camp Wildwood mini horses, Busch Garden’s animal ambassadors and furry friends from Humane Society of Tampa Bay.

Girl Scout Fest is the largest GSWCF event of the year, with more than 2,000 attendees.

The cost to attend is $5 per person which includes all activities, this year’s exclusive Girl Scout Fest patch and tickets to the Florida Botanical Garden. Attendees can preregister online or register at the event. Walk-ups are welcome. The Florida State Fairgrounds charges $10 per vehicle for parking.

This year, the Girl Scout Fest Program Pillar sponsors are HCA Florida Healthcare, Simply Healthcare and Publix Super Market Charities.

Girl Scouts of West Central Florida serves nearly 20,000 members in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter counties.