The Florida Strawberry Festival may only last eleven days but, for its board, planning the show-stopping event is a year-long process.
While families were corralling children back to school, eight Plant City residents headed to Hamburg, N.Y., to attend the Erie County Fair to take notes on things that might improve the Strawberry Festival.
Sandee Sytsma, the chair of the Florida Strawberry Festival Board, said the trip was very productive and the team was able to observe things that could help improve Plant City’s festival, as well as recognize some of the things it was doing very well.
Two of the things Sytsma said she hopes to bring back from the trip are the abundance of shady eating spots, in the form of umbrella-covered tables and benches, and improved landscaping.
“It’s just good to be a guest at a festival instead of a host,” Sytsma said. “Signage is important and maps are important if you don’t know where you are. It really made us stop and go ‘Oh.’ We had never been there, we had no idea where livestock was, no idea where their crafts were and that’s where maps and signage come in.”
Board members spent time examining different aspects of the fair. Doug Driggers spent time with those in charge of parking. Pam Warnock, head of guest services, spent time with those in charge of that department at the Erie County Fair. As each member split up to mingle with their peers, they took note of what, if any, ideas they could bring back to Plant City.
Warnock said this was the first year she had been able to attend the event but overall considered it to be a success. While aspects like volunteer management were not applicable due to the vast size differences — The Erie County Fair handles approximately 220 volunteers while the Strawberry Festival uses around 2,000, according to Warnock— there were interesting things she hopes to see implemented here in Plant City.
One of the differences she observed was the unique signage posted at each gate to the fair. The large sign has the number of the gate attendees are entering and has “Parents Stop” written in bold letters across its face. Parents are advised to take pictures of their children standing next to the sign, which has a height marker on it, so if the child were to go missing the parent would be able to show security what the child was wearing, its height and where the family entered the fair.
Warnock said she hasn’t discussed the signage yet with the board but hopes a similar tactic can be implemented for the local fair.
Sytsma said the board loves to keep the community up to date and encouraged people to follow the festival on Facebook and to sign up for a mass email with updates for the event.