The Best of Pennsylvania's Great American Outdoor Expo

The crowds came out in waves to experience all that the 2024 Great American Outdoor Show had to offer this week. The nine-day event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, celebrates hunting, fishing, and outdoor traditions treasured by millions of American families. If you can't make the show, which is still running through Feb 11, here are some of our favorite highlights.

The show features over 1,000 exhibitors all centered around an outdoor theme. There is an entire hall full of outfitters from all across the nation and the world. 

The show was packed with a huge variety of shooting manufacturers, archery product manufacturers, archery shops and dealers, bird call artisans, optics, fishing boats and RVs, taxidermists, wildlife art, and so much more. 

There is also an entire hall dedicated to companies that don't specialize in hunting or fishing, but sell products adjacent to the outdoor lifestyle, such as log homes, wild game rubs, species, and flavorings, and more.

The combined 650,000 square feet of exhibit hall space are packed to the maximum. There are so many products related to the outdoors, including fly fishing flies, rods and reels, branded hats, hoodies, and shirts, hunting blinds, camouflage hunting clothing, boots, film-your-hunt videography equipment, gun holsters, packaged snacks, and so much more. 

Beyond exhibits, there is also a full schedule of seminars and demonstrations, industry celebrity appearances, and archery competitions. Some of the celebrities slated to appear are Melissa Bachman, Hannah Barron, Barry Wensel, The HuntChef Jeremy Critchfield, Randy Flannery, Python Cowboy Mike Kimmel, Bobby Hart, Ken Hammel, and many more.

The Great American Outdoor Show is open to the public and has a family-friendly vibe. A quick glance down any of the aisles will reveal a snapshot of generations of America: from wobbly-legged elders with cane sticks to pig-tailed tots being rolled in wagons through the show, plus all the life phases in between. 

This year, the expanded kids zone features face painting, basketball, arts and crafts, and a basketball court. The kids zone is free and open all nine days of the show. There is also a kids casting contest, rock climbing wall, and the dock dogs competition. 

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