PLANT CITY, Fla. — The Florida Strawberry Festival is a celebration of the fruit that local farmers grow, that has a more than $1 billion economic impact on Hillsborough County.
“Plant City is the winter strawberry capital of the world. It doesn’t matter where you’re at if you’re buying strawberries in November, you’re probably buying them from Plant City,” said Danny Coton, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Florida Strawberry Festival.
The Florida Strawberry Festival started in the 1930s. For the first time this year, a new history center located in the old National Guard armory building features exhibits that showcase past musical performers and Strawberry Queens throughout the years.
“People can come through, and they recognize people. They may say, look, there’s my teacher. There have been a lot of people over the years that have participated in this,” Coton said.
The Berry Big Wheel is the newest attraction. It's the tallest mobile ferris wheel in the United States, standing at 155 feet tall.
Most people come to try all sorts of strawberry dishes.
“It’s always the strawberry shortcake. Go in there, hit the strawberry shortcake, and everything else is afterward from there,” said Matt Vidosh.
New food items include the Almond Joy Funnel Cake and the Strawberry Crunch Cone, which is a waffle cone rolled in strawberry crunch topping and stuffed with cheesecake filling and strawberries.
“It’s reminiscent of the ice cream bars that have the vanilla flavor and strawberry mixed in. It has a cheesecake filling in the middle,” said Tricia Rogers, owner of Sweet Missions Cafe & Bakery.
Last year more than 600,000 people attended, making it a Strawberry Festival record.
The 11-day festival runs through March 10.
