Florida is known for beautiful people and beaches, spring break and gorgeous weather. There are also plenty of chances to win big in state-themed sweepstakes and contests. Learn about some of the opportunities below, but first, here's some trivia:

• The state has several nicknames including the Sunshine State, Alligator State and the Everglade State.


• Space flights are launched at Cape Canaveral.


• Fort Lauderdale's nickname is the Venice of America because of its large network of canals.

Now onto the contests.

Arts and Crafts Fairs: Art and craft shows across the country often have prizes, contests, raffles and other giveaways for vendors and customers. Find Florida's craft fairs at artfaircalendar.com and artscraftsshowbusiness.com. The Palm Beaches travel website events pages has listings for art, crafts and antique showes including the American International Fine Art Fair.

Beauty Pageants: Beauty pageants showcase beauty, poise and physical fitness. Find Florida's pageants at these sites:

• Florida's Pageant Center page - pageantcenter.com/pageant_calendar/florida_pageants.html#.VGl5VfnF_W4


• The Miss Florida contest is the precursor to the Miss America pageant (missflorida.org).


• Miss Florida USA is the entryway to the Miss USA pageant (missfloridausa.com).


• At Starlightpageants.com, you will find info on natural beauty and baby contests.


• Miss Florida Latina is the preliminary to the Miss U.S. Latina pageant (misslatina.com).

Food Festivals: Florida's cuisine is as diverse as its culture and you'll find events celebrating food across the state where eating and recipe contests are held. Find them at foodreference.com, localwineevents.com and the cuisine page on the events section at visitflorida.com.

Media: Some of Florida's television stations have contest listings on their websites including Fox 4 at jrn.com/fox4now/members, WJHG News Channel 7 at wjhg.com/contests, MOR-TV in Tampa Bay at mor-tv.com/contests and the ABC affiliate in Tampa Bay at abcactionnews.com/about-us/contests.

Outdoors: Are you a outdoor enthusiast who loves sports, hunting, fishing or one of the many activites Florida has to offer? Find giveaways and shooting contests for kids at the Florida Outdoor Expo (floridaoutdoorsexpo.com/).

State Fair: State fairs hold contests for agriculture, arts, crafts and more. Raffles and other contests for attendants are often held too. Visit floridastatefair.com for info.

Travel: Win trips to the most popular destinations in Florida. Contests are intermittently listed at keywestattractions.org/index.php and visitflorida.com. Also visit my article on Disney Sweepstakes for opportunities to win trips to Disney World.

Good luck!

Florida travel guides for your perusal:
Fodor's Walt Disney World 2015: with Universal, SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida (Full-color Travel Guide)
Florida Authentica: Your field guide to the unique, eccentric, and natural marvels of the real Sunshine State