Night&Day

The first signs of spring are in the air: Ferris wheels, farm animals, and the scent of fried dough. Oh yes, it’s time for the fair. If you haven’t graced a midway since your senior year of high school when you and your stoner friends forked over the big bucks for unlimited ride bracelets, spun yourselves silly on the Tilt-A-Whirl, and tried to toss an over-inflated basketball into a tiny hoop for a giant, unlicensed, and cheaply made-in-a-sweatshop Scooby-Doo, it’s time to go back. The Miami-Dade County Fair celebrates its 54th year with the theme “The County Fair with City Flair” and promises new rides, new shows, and new attractions. Go ahead and call in sick on Thursday, March 17, because admission to the fair is just one dollar for everyone on opening day.

Maybe flipping and spinning rides aren’t your thing. There are plenty of shows throughout the grounds for you to stop and stare at for a spell, including the Rhythms of Rio samba dancers, the Maximum Velocity team performing bicycle, skateboard, and inline skating stunts, and a daily Mardi Gras parade at 6:30 p.m. with floats, beads, and more beads.

You can’t go to the fair without sampling some of the finest carnival cuisine that simply cannot be found outside of a festival. The smell gets you as soon as you walk in the gates and suddenly you can’t resist anything fried and on a stick. The standard industrial-size ears of roasted corn, elephant ears, corn dogs, kettle corn, and cotton candy are a given, but this year you can sample soft-serve ice cream on Belgian waffles, Germany’s Greatest sausages, and Tasty Tates, which are vaguely described in a press release as “a new rub on potato chips. Watch them being made right on site in the Spudmaster and then enjoy these piping hot goodies.” Okay, still not clear on the concept, but you can never go wrong with fried potatoes. Just don’t try them until after going on the Mega Drop, Inverter, and cleverly named Twister.

Also new at the fair this year is the Build-A-Bear traveling workshop on wheels. What? You haven’t been to a Build-A-Bear Workshop? (The nearest one is in the Coral Square Mall, 9581 W. Atlantic Blvd., Coral Springs.) Now you and the kids can make your own stuffed animals. Start with the shell of a bear, bunny, monkey, or other animal (ranging in price from $10 to $25), head to the stuffing station to fill your friend with as much fluff as you like, pick out clothes, print a birth certificate, and trot off with your new pal in a cute cardboard pet carrier that your mom or dad will have to lug around for the rest of your day at the fair.