Bob Evans Farm Festival Review

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We recently traveled to Rio Grande, Ohio to attend the 40th Annual Bob Evans Farm Festival.

The festival was the perfect way to welcome in Fall.

The trip down would have been about 4 hours, but stretched into 5 due to an accident. Kora and Logan did great though and were really well behaved. They were so excited to go to the Farm Festival that they even took naps in the car!

As we approached the exit ramp for the Bob Evans Farm, there was a line of cars that stretched all the way down the ramp and for at least 1/2 mile onto the highway – both ways! We had heard that the Bob Evans Farm Festival is attended by 30,000 people, we just didn’t expect them all to arrive at the same time! And were doubly surprised because it was 1:15 pm and the Festival had been open since 9 am.

Our GPS and map told us the Farm was still another 2 miles or so off the highway. So rather than sit in 3 miles of traffic at a standstill, we decided to try to find a back way and we were lucky to have found one that saved us significant time.

Upon arrival we entered the main parking lot where there were lots of helping hands waving us to available parking spaces. After we got out of the car, we then stood in line to walk through a single file tunnel that passes under the road. It was only a 10 minute wait or so and after we made it out of the tunnel… the fun began!

There was quite a crowd and everyone was having a great time.
There was something for everyone around the Bob Evans Farm.

New and old tractors & equipment to view, homemade food including apple butter making demonstrations, and even a chance to eat at the original Bob Evans restaurant.

Kora & Logan loved the Bob Evans Farm Festival. There was so much for them to do.

They watched a very funny magic show, road in a horse-drawn wagon, looked at and learned about all kinds of farm animals…

They climbed a huge haystack, went through a hay maze (more than once!), played games in the Kids Game Corral, played in giant pile of corn…

They rode horses, got their faces painted, rode a barrel ride, and watched cloggers and a border collie demonstration (which they later were a part of!).

The food was wonderful too. There were many booths where you could buy homemade jams, jellies, perservers, butters, dips, breads, and much more.

For dinner we enjoyed the main feature of the Bob Evans Farm Festival – the Bob Evans platters! The platters consisted of any number of main items including: hot dogs, fried chicken, smoked sausage, grilled chicken etc., 2 sides, and a drink. All for about $6. It was a lot of food for that price and the lines for the platters were terribly long, but thankfully were well organized and moved very fast.

The weather was 80-85 degrees and, for whatever reason, I didn’t pack anyone shorts. Needless to say we were all overheated and to remedy that we decided to top off the evening with enormous portions of ice cream, which made the kids very happy.

Saturday night, we stayed at the Super 8 Hotel in Gallipolis.

The front desk was prompt, efficient, and polite. The hotel was clean and well taken care of. We were happy with the spaciousness of our room and the view of the bridge crossing the Ohio River was wonderful.

That evening we all went for a dip in the pool and had so much fun!

The shallow end was perfect for 4-year-old Kora and 3-year-old Logan to stand up in. So they had fun running around, chasing Tired Dad Dave, and simply splashing about.

In the morning, a continental breakfast was available and it had the most delicious made-upon-request Belgian waffles, I’ve had in a long time. They were so good, most of us had more than one!

On Sunday, we headed back over to the Bob Evans Farm Festival hoping to get to anything we missed the day before. We were so pleased when we arrived at 9:30 am at how empty it was – it was like a completely different place. Since there were no lines, Kora & Logan felt like they had the place to themselves.

We had a wonderful morning on Sunday and packed it full of lots of activities and demonstrations.

We watched the Equine team practice:

Kora & Logan went through the Hay Maze again:

They played in the Corn Pile:

We watched clogging:

We had fun at the Border Collie Demonstration. (This video shows the dog herding ducks single file up a ramp & into a pool!)

The weather started heating up again around 11:00 and it wasn’t long before the crowd started growing. Lines were getting longer and everyone in our family was growing tired. So we decided to pack it up and head home around noon.

It really was a wonderful weekend and we were so glad to get the chance to attend the Bob Evans Farm Festival.

If you’re looking for a fun Fall festival for the whole family, we definitely recommend this one. If you don’t like crowds or long lines however, be sure to get there when it opens. And leave yourself lots of time to visit everything, there were a number of demonstrations and exhibits we didn’t get to, but if you play your cards right and arrive in the early morning you are more likely to see everything.

If you didn’t make the Farm Festival this year, there’s still good news. The Bob Evans Farm is open all year round! You can experience the beauty and history of the farm as well as camping, hiking, horseback riding, and other fun family activities throughout the year.

Thank you to Bob Evans Farms for providing admission and a place to stay. No compensation was received for this review. The opinions are mine and my family’s.