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| - First time to the Ostrich Festival 2012. My wife and I paid $10 each to gain entrance after giving $5 to park about 2-3 blocks from the event. We went on Saturday around Noon and the place was packed- particularly the food area and midway/carnival sections. There was so much to take in, it was pretty impressive how large and spread out the entire festival was- from the petting zoo to the food vendors to the carnival area- it must have been the size of 3-4 football fields.
Food: Many selections to choose from but mostly catering to the carnival fun fare. Lots of "deep fried" items- from pickles to cream cheese. And then you have your corn dogs, burgers, funnel cakes, and kettle corn. We selected mexican food and ordered the chicken quesadilla and it was pretty tasty ($8 for basically 1 tortilla folded in half though) with a $3 coke that was gross. We also tried strawberry lemonade which was decent but very sweet. But a wide variety of foods- we saw McDonald's was on site as well- interesting to see that big of a brand there since everything else was what you'd expect from the state fair.
Entertainment: Lots of variety here, mainly aimed towards smaller kids. There was a Western show with gunslinging, a Monkey show, Petting Zoo (large but packed so we avoided), a "Bubble" show, Magic show, and then a large music stage for live acts that performed throughout the day with headliner in evening (our night was Blue Oyster Cult). Overall there were lots to choose from although they start at exact times throughout the day so if you arrive at Noon like we did you miss a lot until things start back up around 2p. Looked like there was plenty of room to cater a large crowd of people with chairs in some of the more popular shows.
Fun/Rides: There are 2 sections- adults and kids. Both are equally large with the adults area a bit bigger. I'd say there were at least a dozen thrill rides with 2 ferris wheels, a fun house, and haunted attraction. The midway was pretty cool with all of the games to "win" prizes. A great place to lose a lot of money trying to win a five foot tall Bart Simpson if you're not careful. The folks running each game station throw out their typical challenges and heckles, always fun to be called out in front of your family when you decide not to pay $5 to throw softballs at a laundry basket for a sack of goldfish. :- P
The event was very organized- and the main attraction of course are the ostriches. You can visit them at the end of the festival grounds where there are 2 or 3 penned up for your viewing. Interestingly they sell ostrich burgers about 50 yards from where these giant birds dwell. There's also ostrich racing, which was not happening while we were there- but I'd imagine it's a few big bird running in circles as people cheer on a winner.
Overall it was a pretty fun time- there are numerous things to do, especially if you're with a little one (we brought our 1 year old daughter and she was constantly in awe of her surroundings). Be prepared to shell out some money- between parking, admission, fare tickets ($25 tix for $23 and each ride is 4-5 tickets), food, snacks, drinks, souvenirs. etc. - you're easily staring at over $100 to do a little of everything. Check the event's web site as they pre-sell wristbands at Fry's Food for a deep discount and I believe it's all access wristbands for the carnival rides.
Have fun and bring plenty of sunscreen and water to keep hydrated. We found local firefighters and police booths selling ice cold bottles of water for $1.
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