Outstanding equine and equestrian acts from throughout the United States are slated to perform at Equine Affaire’s popular musical celebration of the horse—the Fantasia—to create an evening of fabulous and affordable entertainment. The 2017 Fantasia will take place at 7:30pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (April 6-8) in the Ohio Expo Center’s coliseum and is made possible once again through the generous sponsorship of Absorbine®.
As the entertainment cornerstone of Equine Affaire, the Fantasia showcases the beauty, diversity, talent, and spirit of horses of a great variety of breeds and provides the perfect ending to a busy day of activities at Equine Affaire. With just the right mix of comedy, drama, action, stunning horses, and phenomenal horsemanship, the Fantasia has been one of the highlights of Equine Affaire in Columbus since the show was first introduced at Equine Affaire nearly 20 years ago.
What can Fantasia goers expect? To be entertained by many of the best equestrian performers and most memorable horses in the nation. “The 2017 Fantasia will feature the types of acts and breeds of horses that have delighted our audiences over the years including freestyle reining and dressage, driving, horses performing at liberty, garrocha, airs above the ground, and drill team performances,” reported Eugenia Snyder, the President of Equine Affaire. “We’re really excited to be able to once again feature two of the best liberty horse trainers and performers in the world—Guy McLean and Dan James—and also introduce several very special acts and performers that will be new to the Fantasia in Ohio.”
The lineup of performers who will take the arena at the Fantasia will include the award-winning Young Guns Equestrian Drill Team, top dressage rider and equestrian entertainer Matt McLaughlin, master dressage and Lusitano trainer Vitor Silva, and the always popular Knights of Iceland. “There’s a good chance that Bobby Kerr and his mustangs from Hico, TX, will steal the show this year,” reported Eugenia Snyder, “We also have a special celebrity horsemanship ‘competition’ in the works featuring Julie Goodnight, Brandi Lyons, Dan James and other top riders. For anyone who loves horses, the 2017 Fantasia will tick all of the boxes from fun and funny to dramatic and moving and remind us once again why we find horses so enchanting.”
To facilitate access to the coliseum for the 2017 Fantasia, the doors to the show will open 15 minutes earlier this year—at 6:45pm. “The trade show buildings close at 7:00pm, so having the doors to the Fantasia open in advance of closing the trade show will give Fantasia goers the opportunity to easily move from one event building to another and allow more time for everyone to enter the coliseum, grab a snack, and find their seats before the show starts at 7:30,” Eugenia explained.
Tickets for the Fantasia range from $14 to $25, and advance tickets are available online through March 30 at equineaffaire.com (where you may consult a seating chart and select your seats) or by calling Equine Affaire at (740) 845-0085 weekdays from 9:00am-5:00pm Eastern. Tickets ordered by March 22 will be sent through the mail; tickets ordered between March 22 and March 30 will be available for pickup at Will Call at the coliseum before the show. Any tickets not sold in advance will be available for purchase at the Information Booth in the Bricker Building beginning at 9:00am on Thursday, April 6.
For all you need to know to attend Equine Affaire—North America’s premiere equine exposition and equestrian gathering—and the Fantasia, visit equineaffaire.com. Our thanks again to Absorbine® for their continued support of the 2017 Fantasia—Equine Affaire’s musical celebration of the horse.