Cool and creative…read morecrafts The spring art festival at Lake Lily park is a whole bunch of very creative arts, crafts and displays placed in a the very lovely setting of a large and wonderful park. Dozens of booths containing lots of very original and cool stuff ranging from paintings, photots, carvings, clothes, jewelry, lawn sculptures and of courses lots of food. Most of the items on display were very distinctive and included a whole bunch of stuff I've never seen before in an arts and craft fair. The food was pretty much what you would expect from a fair but the Kettle Korn was really good. You get to walk around lovely Lake Lily Park as you wander around the fair and get to see some very inquisitive ducks, turtles and other critters.. They seemed as interested in me as I was in them. The prices of the items varied tremendously, from the very cheap to the quite expensive. Quite literally something for everyone. Cool and creative arts and crafts in a beautiful park filled with friendly critters. A great way to spend some time and money.

SWEET! Something…read morefor everyone for sure. Beer tent, food trucks, fresh produce, live music, live demos, beautiful weather, kids corner, you really couldn't ask for a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon in the park. Chipotle really does go ALL out when they bring a setup to an event, it's impressive. Big Wheel, Fantastic Hummus, Over Rice, John & Shirley's Catering, so many awesome munchie options to choose from. SO many vendors to check out including: Back to the Roots Bamboo Leaf Tea Blodgett Gardens Chews Naturally Cindy's Quilting Crispy Farms Eat More Produce Emma's Sweets Ensemble Pieces FABU Pottery Farmworker Association of Florida Fat Cat Foods Field to Feast Fork to Spade Glazed N Infused Heavenly Flan Homegrown Co-op Iced Bakery Jillian Says! Lafleur Nursery Living Towers Local Roots Midtown Eco-Village Natural Goodness Pasargadae Farm Peak Season Pops Perfect Pickler Pure Sweet Life R&B Organics Random Acts of Pottery St. Johns River Honey Sunchowder's Emporia The Butcher's Pantry Urban Herbs Wild Ocean Seafood Market Out of the new spots I have tried, Peak Season Pops was my fav! So fresh and delicious. I had a great time walking around and chatting with everyone, learning about so many new things and tasting delicious goodies. I can't wait for next year and until then, I am totally going to look into growing my own herbs!

This is a relaxed event focused on local food.read more

This is quite a fancy art show, one of the best around, really. With top artists from all over the…read morecountry, you'll find some truly amazing pieces from both established and up-and-coming creators. The entire park transforms into a massive outdoor gallery, filled with hundreds of works being judged and awarded throughout the weekend. I'll admit, some of the art is a little pricey for me, but if you've got some disposable income and consider yourself a true art connoisseur, it's definitely worth it. Even if you're not buying, it's an incredible way to spend an afternoon, walking the park, chatting with artists, and soaking in all the creativity. It's inspiring and gives you plenty of ideas for what you might want to collect or create in the future.

My daughter lives in Winter Park and during a visit with her we visited the Winter Park Autumn Art…read moreFestival. The festival is held in the beautiful 11 acre Central Park along Park Avenue in the heart of downtown Winter Park. The park has a stately oak canopy, fountains, and sculptures which makes it the perfect backdrop for an art festival. There is also a number of restaurants and shops only steps away. The Winter Park Chamber of Commerce hosts the ANNUAL festival on the second weekend in October each year. It is the only juried fine arts festival made up only of Florida artists. Art displayed and for sale includes paintings, ceramics, metal, prints, textiles, photography, and ceramics to name just a few mediums. This year 186 artists were chosen to display their works. The festival is quite large and you can easily spend a couple of hours checking everything out. I especially loved the nature photography featuring Florida's native flora and fauna. If there is one drawback to the festival it is the lack of parking. I ended up parking in a business lot and they charged me $20. Go early if you have any hope of finding street parking. Once you leave your car plan on spending a few hours enjoying all the delights downtown Winter Park has to offer.

The Seminole County South Rotary Club hosts a two-day Art, Craft & Wine Festival event at the…read moreCranes Roost Park in Altamonte Springs and it serves as a fundraiser for them with events like a Wine Stroll (For 2016, Tickets: $25 in advanced, $30 day of ) and a Chili Cook-off It's a free event, and while I didn't participate in either the Wine Stroll or the Chili Cook-off, I did have a lovely leisurely 2.5+ hr stroll checking out the over 150+ artists and crafters who were showcasing unique items, crafts, decorative products and arts. Some stalls were standouts - there was a local woodworker with really lovely and affordable furniture pieces, a stall which had antique spoons turned into functional jewelry pieces like rings, etc and another stall with artworks made from flip-flops. For the last one, it was so artfully done, I didn't realize the material used for the artworks were flip-flops at first! The amphitheater had live music, and it was a nice variety and lovely to hear in the background while wandering thru the stalls. Food vendor wise, there were only a couple of option and I couldn't help thinking they should have partnered with the Daily City Food Trucks events so a better variety of options could have been available. Also at night, not all vendors had access to electricity and so some of them were open, but I couldn't really check out what they were selling all that well. I had tons of fun browsing thru the stalls and so would definitely come and check this festival again next year, if in the area. Note: #377 of Yelp 100 challenge for 2016

Good food, family friendly atmosphere. Lots of beer... lol…read moreSuper nice crowd. Great deserts... Parking is a little high for this kind of event but the cometary lot is a low income cometary and the money helps them so whatever... They run out of the good stuff so get there early...

Zombietoberfest was a nice evening out in the cool weather that Saturday brought us. There was a…read morebounce house and a big open field for the kids to run around and play, Ghostbusters was playing on a big screen in an open grassy area, there was a zombie walk, people doing zombie makeup-which was fun, vendors, and food trucks. It was all nice but I personally would have liked to see more vendors and more activities. I was surprised to find there was plenty of free parking in area businesses and along the streets; it made that part of the fest all the better. We purchased a few cupcakes from Bluebird and unfortunately they were rather dry; you could tell they had been sitting out quite a while. I've heard rave reviews about Bluebird so I won't fault them entirely since they did have to bake ahead of time and store them at their outside booth. I love this time of year and Zombietoberfest was an enjoyable time out, doing something different. If you are big into Halloween and/or zombies, I would definitely recommend a visit next year.

Great event! So much fun! Really enjoyed the salsa and the salsa music…read more I enjoyed the margaritas, they were very good. The only negative thing is that it was super hot. But that's can't be control. Everyone was having fun and dancing. There were some tents selling food also. I'm even considering competing if there is another event. Hahaha Hopefully, they will be able to delay this event with more space, more vendors, more salsa and last longer.

This year was my 2nd Salsa Fest. I do enjoy trying the different salsas, but I do not enjoy having…read moreto purchase drink tickets and having to redeem them. They should have cash bars and/or beer tubs. When we went to the Corona booth to 'spin the wheel' for prizes, you had to have a corona in your hand to participate. Understandable. But when I have to go to one of two tents on opposite sides of the festival for tickets and a corona, not so accommodating. I do like the live music and the various bands and space for dancing if you choose to do so. They definitely need more standing tables or sitting space.

What a nice event for Orlando. We went on the last day of the 2020 event and arrived around 2p…read more We were lucky enough to find a close parking spot so we started off great. We had free tix courtesy of a local radio station contest. I can still hear the busy signals in my ear from dialing in. This year, the event was "cashless", which doesn't mean you can't bring cash, but it means you pre-load your bracelet with money that you can use to purchase items from various vendors. It sounds like a good idea, but you have to guess as to how much to load, then do math all day and remember how much you have. When you purchase something, you can ask the person what your balance is. It's nice to not have to get out your wallet every time, but also a pain if you want something that's $7 and you have $6 left. You can't combine "bracelets" either so if someone had $1 left, they'd either have to reload or lose it. There was also a $1 service charge for the privilege of using the bracelet. As far as food options, there were plenty. Various restaurants from around town were there serving up some of their favorites. Gringos Locos, Dixie Dharma, Kaizen Something or other, American Social, Jeremiahs Italian Ice, Jimmy Hula's, and many others were there. It's a great way to try things without driving all over. Many places also had vegan and vegetarian options. There were plenty of wine vendors as well, and those lines were the shortest (or non existent). There was something you could buy that was a sampling of wines for $20. I think they punched or scanned something with each vendor. Most wineries were charging $7 for a glass (plastic cup) of wine. I would think if you want people to try your wines, you'd have it at a lower price point. Are they there to make money or get people to love their wine? (Gringos Locos got it with their $2 Double Decker Tacos, the line was nuts). The event ran till 7 but around 4p, some vendors were already closing up shop. That would be disappointing to me if I was arriving later in the day. There was also Mixed Drinks, Bloody Mary Bars, Beer, Hard Seltzer, and water/soda if you weren't there to get Lit. Prices were good for these options. There were plenty of porta-johns and hand washing stations which is nice. There was a stage with rotating bands. Lots of security as well. I'd recommend going as a nice day out. I wish they'd improve the cashless payment method though. At least let people combine. I'd give it 4 stars if it wasn't for that.

An A OK event that has some ups and downs. This is an annual event that takes place in the heart of…read moredowntown. There are tons of parking garages and lots in the local area that are within walking distance, most are around $5-7 dollars, so it's not too bad. It's about $20 for entry into the event, which seems a bit steep to me, since you have to pay for tickets for the food and drinks on top of that. Each ticket is $2 and most drinks and food are between 3-4 tickets ($6-8). It's a pretty expensive event overall once you tally up parking, entry and tickets. There are a lot of vendors, especially local vendors, which is great, cause I love to support local. There were about 40 tents, about half drinks and half food. There is a menu of options when you arrive, so you can know what to expect. Overall: B- A good locals event, but a pretty steep price tag on it once you add it all up.

I love a Christmas parade to get me in a holiday mood and this is the oldest continuous parade in…read morecentral Florida. December 4th was the parade's 69th year in Winter Park. It is hosted each year by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. The parade begins at Park Ave. travels south before turning right on New England Ave. and then ends at Hannibal Square. For ease of parking I left my car at the Hannibal Community Center, walked a block up, and caught the end of the parade. The parade is made up of more than 80 organizations including marching bands, the police and fire departments, scouts, local businesses, and the grand finale, Santa and Mrs. Clause riding atop of a fire truck. I loved the hometown feel of the parade. The floats were beautifully decorated and many of the businesses handed out coupons and candy. My favorite parade participants were the antique automobiles decked out in their holiday best. Knightro, the UCF mascot made an appearance as did the Grinch and the truck from my favorite Winter Park bakery, the Glass Knife. It was a beautiful community experience. The only downer was when a train cut the parade in half causing a bit of delay. The spectacle of Santa Clause more than made up for it. Before the parade you can attend a fundraising pancake breakfast hosted by Leadership Winter Park. This was their 22nd year serving up pancakes, sausages, and beverages the morning of the parade. After the parade a great stop is the Winter Park Farmer's market which has a large selection of farm fresh fruits and vegetables, plants, and prepared foods. Winter Park is beautifully decorated this time of year and the Christmas parade is definitely worth getting up early for.