I like to call this event 'the most fun you'll have planning your vacation,'" said Wendy Royal, event coordinator for the PA Family Travel Fair. "It's free to attend. You can go around, get all kinds of information - visitors' guides, brochures and information about things only the locals know."

The eighth annual PA Family Travel Fair will be held on Saturday, April 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center and Fairgrounds, 80 Rocherty Road, Lebanon.

It will feature more than 50 vendors and exhibitors showcasing destinations and attractions from throughout the state.

"They are there to hand out free information. There's no selling," Royal said. "You can talk to the vendors, and they can answer any questions you have. Nobody knows their area or their attraction better than they do."

Vendors will represent all corners of the state, providing ideas for summer getaways, day trips or longer vacations. Participants will include amusement parks; campgrounds; museums; and visitor bureaus, including the PA Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau.

"People love the outdoors in Pennsylvania. One of our new vendors is the Keystone Elk Country Alliance," Royal said, adding that the Elk County-based group will have lots of information on the elk herds that populate the region. "They'll have information on the best times to see the elk, and they'll give people lots of ideas of things to do in the area."

New this year, the PA Family Travel Fair will feature two grand prize giveaways.

"We have two big getaways this year, instead of one like we've had in the past," Royal said. "Both are for families of four, and they include lodging, attractions, vouchers, gift cards for restaurants and more. One is from Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, and one is from Destination Gettysburg."

The first 500 people in the door at the travel fair will receive a goodie bag, perfect for stuffing full of information picked up at vendor booths, Royal said, adding, "Your bag will be full by the end of the day."

The event is truly for the whole family, with plenty of options for kids to have fun.

"We have a kids' passport, which encourages kids to interact with the vendors," Royal explained. "One lucky youngster will win eight all-day passes to DelGrosso's Amusement Park & Laguna Splash Water Park."

Additionally, a balloon artist will entertain from 10 a.m. to noon, and airbrush tattoos will be offered from 1 to 3 p.m.

Clyde Peeling's Reptiland will present a program at noon and will also have a booth set up all day for visitors to interact with some of the organization's animals.

Mascots will also be on-site, including Echo the Bat from Lincoln Caverns.

"She's a lot of fun for the kids," Royal said. "They really like meeting her."

Along with vendors, the fair will feature a program from Sam Leamer, a local historian who will offer a presentation sponsored by Visit Lebanon Valley from 9 to 10:50 a.m.

"In honor of the 250th birthday of America, we wanted to bring somebody in who can talk about what life was like during Colonial times," Royal said.

At 1:15 p.m., Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation president Marci Mowery will speak.

"She's going to talk about opportunities for families in our state parks," Royal said. "She was a schoolteacher, so she makes her presentations relatable for kids."

Food will be available for purchase at a restaurant on-site at the expo center.

"It's the kind of food you would expect to have at a county fair," Royal said, noting that the restaurant is set up cafeteria style and is located right across the hall from the travel fair.

Royal has been organizing the PA Family Travel Fair since 2018, although she had been thinking about the idea for several years before that.

"Over the years, I've always been astonished that we don't know what's going on in our own backyard," she said. "There are so many cool things in our state that people just aren't aware of."

Tourism is big business in Pennsylvania. According to a 2024 economic impact study, the most recent study completed, visitors to the state spent $49.9 billion, equating to $144 million a day. Tourism also supports more than 500,000 jobs in the state and generates more than $5 billion in tax revenue to benefit the state.

More than 2,000 people attended last year's PA Family Travel Fair, and Royal is excited to host it in a new venue this year, with lots of space and plenty of free parking.

"Kids love this event because there's always something fun to do. Parents love it because it's free and they can get lots of information," she said. "It's just a fun day and an opportunity to find out things they didn't know about what there is to do in our state."

For more information on the PA Family Travel Fair, visit https://pafamilytravel.com.