NACAA

CARNIVAL CORRAL: FAMILY FUN WITH AN AGRICULTURAL MESSAGE

Abstract:

Agricultural awareness has become an important issue. With less than 2% of the US population being involved in production agriculture it is important for the agricultural industry to share its story. As the premier Kentucky festival featuring beef, Kentucky’s Fort Harrod Beef Festival was entering its’ fourth year in 2009 and the committee wanted to add more educational opportunities into the festival. Carnival Corral was designed to fill this need and meet needs to increase agricultural awareness as identified by local agriculture groups. Objectives for this event were to teach young people and their parents where their food comes from, how much we depend on farmers everyday, and the wonderful job farmers do as caretakers of livestock and stewards of the environment. Carnival Corral is a fun-filled area for children and their parents surrounded by corral panels and festively decorated with colorful balloons, banners and related materials. Each child that visited Carnival Corral could participate in ten games, all featuring questions related to different segments of the agricultural industry, get their face painted while reading accurate agriculture books, walk away with a Carnival Corral coloring book and learn new things about farmers and the agriculture industry. Volunteers indicated this was an effective tool for increasing agricultural awareness and teaching children about agriculture. Over 450 children plus their parents went through Carnival Corral over the three-day festival weekend.