By Gina Horan
Jurassic Farms Dino Fest Brings Hundreds of Visitors to Oxford
Brown and Brown Farms traded tractors for T-Rexes this past warm and sunny weekend as the acres of grounds transformed into a prehistoric setup this past warm and sunny weekend.
Life-size animatronic dinosaurs like the Pachycephalosaurus and Diabloceratops roared, growled and blinked while feathered raptors and a Brontosaurus hovered over the grounds.
Lorna Patterson, a resident actor with Dino Refuge, says it’s fun to mix entertainment while weaving in real information.
“We try to bring the prehistoric magic down to the little kids’ level,” she says. “All our shows mix education and amusement so you get to pet a dinosaur and still learn something new.”
The dinosaur encounters were the main draw as soon as guests arrived at the front entrance gate, and kids lined up to meet and pet a baby Spinasauraus named Juno, who posed with a trainer for each photo op.
There was also a juvenile T-Rex, a young Triceratops, a baby T-Rex and a baby Triceratops wandering the farm.
Three live dinosaur shows ran throughout the day at the Great Pumpkin Stage, and included audience participation.
The entire seven-acre maze stayed open for the festival with more than twenty-five attractions and anyone needing a breather enjoyed the permanent features like the giant slide or jungle gym, before jumping back into the dinosaur experience.
Food vendors leaned into the theme with Megasaurus burgers, Pterodactyl wings, Dino nuggets and bright green Raptor Punch slushies. There were also hot dogs, hamburgers, kettle corn, lemonade and barbecue plates.
Kathleen Harlow, who works for the farm helping to develop the events and attractions, says they want to keep exploring ways to showcase the ever-growing property.
“It’s a way to get families out to the farm,” she says. “The dinosaur theme is always popular and I have seen whole families wearing dinosaur shirts and says many come early and stay until closing.”
Most families were from five or ten miles away, like Rachel Rouse who came from Belleview and summed it up after arriving with her grandson.
“He loves dinosaurs and my boys still love dinosaurs,” she says. “The minute I saw this on social media, I knew we had to come.”
IF YOU GO:
Jurassic Farm Dino Fest @ Brown and Brown Farms
13940 US 301, Oxford.
Last weekend coming up November 22/23 | 10am-4pm.
General admission $19.95. For more information go to brownsadventurefarm.com.
Photos by Gina Horan
Gina moved to Central Florida in August 2021 from the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a degree in linguistics and worked as a fashion editor, photo stylist lifestyle columnist and food writer for the Knight Ridder Newspaper Group. She also covered and photographed music festivals, fashion shows and sports throughout Northern California. In 2000, she joined KSAN radio as a morning show co-host and produced the news and sports content there for four years. She later covered travel, events and the restaurant scene for KRON-Bay TV. A veteran bartender, Gina has worked in hospitality on and off since high school. She has been with Akers Media since 2022 and hosts the Healthy Living Central Florida podcast. Her passions include travel, road trips, baseball, history books and podcasts, tasting menus and arriving in a new city without a map or guidebook.
