We went to Festival of Flight last year, and the crowd did not even compare to this years. This…read moreyear apparently there was a lack of planning for parking control as well as emergency services back up. People also were stuck in traffic for up to three hours. We live about 15 minutes from this Festival and seeing that we live in the area, we had an idea of how to get out of the traffic. It looked horrendous. We were able to go through the entrance where the dmv was. They blocked it with cones, but we got in anyway. There was a good number of parking. We enjoyed the balloons and can tell a huge increase in people. It's nice to see them when it's lighter out then turns dark. You have to sit and wait for the hot air flame to come up in the dark to take the picture or else it's too dark. I'm thinking this will be the last Festival of Flight in the area. I love it's so close but yes, there were tons of people and small streets. They do have vendors there like some food selections and some crafts, but nothing that sparked my eye. There was a band too, but too country twangy for me.

This is the third annual of the festival. This year they draw a large crowd to the festival. They…read moreare plenty of parking since there are many warehouses. This year the turnout is in the very large number and the traffic jam from the highway to the aero park. Many have turned away because of the traffic situation. This bad traffic flow happens due the one way in and out situation to the aero park. The Pasco County also did not make it better by putting the direction of traffic flow in single entry point. In order to make this festival success, the county needs to widen this road. If there is star give out to Pasco County Traffic is zero star. Once you are in the festival, it is spectacular to see the balloon light out. They over ten balloons lighted at night in the first night. When you get close, you can see the balloon heat when they fire the touch. There are some balloons with great design. I have not been to lighted balloon and this is my first. I have been to balloon take off in the morning but not at night. There are some food truck and merchandise vendor. Live music and plane display in the ground. It is event for all ages.

It calls Freedom Festival in the mall. I believe is freedom of shopping. Even you have kid; there…read moreis plenty of freedom kid activities. If you are father or husband, this is great way to spent time with your family. Open the freedom wallet for your wife to shop and take your kid to the festival activity. This is a well organized block party. Love every minutes of it. It starts with pageant contest and follows by the freedom bicycle decoration contest, watermelon eating contest, parade, fireworks. The Paseo Drive is filling with people. The kid activities include hokey stick goal shot, balloon sword, acrobat elastic jump, face painting, moon wall, air slice, pirate ship invasion and many more. For adult, you know what to do. I was introduced by a vendor for Wikid Watermelon for the custom watermelon kegs and carving. The carving is beautiful for special event. Overall the party is great. People make up this party. The Shop of Wiregrass is smart to hold this party one day before the July 4 with fireworks. It get the maximum people without compete for the actual July 4 fireworks with many locations.

Another excellent time at the fair grounds! This time for the Dream Asia Fest. This festival was…read moreabsolutely amazing! Hope they come back annually. Buying tickets was easy. Bought parking through the fairgrounds website. Getting into parking was easy and I was navigated to my gate entrance to enter. They had so many food, drink, and shopping vendors. Live music and entertainment from both the crowd and the people running the stage. Great time and a lot of fun!

I'm definitely bias since I've only gone to the Minnesota State Fair which is the #1state fair…read moreturnout in the country every year for the 12 days that it's open. Parking was $15 on-site & fair entrance was free for me with my FL medical professional license ID card since I went on a promo day for it. The best part of the Fl State Fair was the petting zoo of baby goats, donkeys, llama alpacas which was free to enter & pet at your own risk of poop & pee from the animals. Some of the alpacas were very agreeable to selfies lol so funny they knew the assignment well. 5 stars for the animals & zero stars everything else. All the food was terrible. I definitely wouldn't go back again. Even if the entrance fee or parking was free... not worth it. My friends that were born & raised in the Tampa Bay Area told me not to go that it's not worth it... should a listened to them lol. None of my Florida friends wanted to go that have lived in Tampa their whole life. I went for the experience. I didn't go on any rides, my germ radar was on too high alert lol.

The art fest is in full swing. It happen in the January. It occupied the entire Paseo Drive. The…read moreorganizers is very organized that the storefront walkway for the entrance is not block and make this art fest spread out. During the art fest, there are several chalk artists put their work in front of the walkway of Dilard's. They will be completed at the second day of the art fest. If you like to try your artistic skills, there is a section on the driveway allow to put your amateur skill to work at kid corner. The booths of the artists were occupied along the street. It is not too crowded. I like the display of each artist. If you get tired of the the art, you always can jump into shopping next or enjoy the restaurant in the mall. Very convenient. There is also a music band playing live music. We are very fortunately this two days do not rain.

The weather was really nice to walk outdoors. Many artists local and afar set up their tents here…read moreand sell their work, That including jewelry, painting, woodwork, photo, handbag, wearable, chairs, sculpture, etc. Live band was playing on the central stage. Couple chalk artists worked their drawing on the ground in front of JC penny. They still have one more day to finish the pieces. Overall, this was a family/ pet friendly festival. It wouldn't be difficult for anyone to find that unique piece of art to decorate the house or yourself.

Enjoyed seeing a great turn out of VW buses and Beetles at this festival. It was held at the Tampa…read moreBay Downs during the Oktoberfest. Quite fitting being that it is a German fest. This was right outside the parking lot of the festival. Afterwards with a $5 admission you could go into Oktoberfest and get your brats and beer on. I was most impressed with all the VW's. It was a nice sight to see!

This was a FREE event for Halloween. You stay in your car and drive while folks (sponsors and…read morevolunteers) wearing masks handed out candy or a craft to the kids in the cars. The line to get in was long, but we were happy and willing to wait to get a sense of normalcy for the kids. This very well might be the only Halloween type of experience they get out of the house. This event was well organized and the volunteers did a fantastic job directing traffic. Our favorite parts were the scavenger hunt and the special radio station with spooky music to really drive home (see what I did there?) the theme. This was the first year for this event and I hope it is not the last. I hope other areas in the Tampa Bay Area also do events like this. I would happily even pay a small fee for another event like this in the future.

Loved the Art and seafood festival on the waterfront. It was free to get in. The seafood options…read morewere great, Got Lobster lobster rolls are amazing, Frenchy's crab fries are to die for, Clearsky' grouper nuggets are so yummy, Groovy Dawgs gator dogs can't be missed, there was so much to try. Sherry's Crab Cakes... their crab Mac and cheese is awesome! Okay I didn't eat all this by myself we all shared. Love the Honeycomb ice cream and hoppers mini donuts. You could eat until you bust! The different tents with all the art was quite a sight to be hold. Such Talent. I will admit I came home with a couple of pieces. Fabulous work some out of my price range and some affordable. They had a band playing and people were enjoying themselves. Pets were welcome. There was a children's area with art and games, there was a Huge VIP tent with comfortable furniture in there. ( it cost extra for VIP) The breeze off the water was great. It was a pretty good crowd people were happy it was great weather. There was Beer and Wine for sale. I noticed a a good amount of police on-site as well as medical so it felt secure.

Great day near the water. The art booths were great and I bought a few wonderful items, but the…read morefood didn't have a lot of seafood for a "seafood" festival. And those that did offer it were only offering expensive options. Don't get me wrong I'll spend good money on good food but for the prices I'll walk to the local places and have a table and service for the same cost.

I've visited many flower and garden shops, including well-known chain stores, but I've never seen a…read moremore stunning selection of plants than at Hummingbird Gardens, 10305 Henderson Rd., Tampa, Florida. The owners were courteous, friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable about the beautiful variety of plants on the property--and there are plenty. It was such a unique and personalized experience. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous, and if I hadn't been told about this place, I would have never known it existed. As a garden and plant fanatic, I can say this spot is truly special. If you ever need plants for your home or garden, this is the spot to visit! On a scale of 1 to 10, this place easily scores a 15!

We had our daughter's wedding at Hummingbird Gardens, Tampa, Florida on Feb 14th. The venue was…read moreextremely pleasant, beautiful, easily accessible and full of nature including peacocks. It is a family-owned nursery, especially designed for special events like weddings etc. As bride's parents we first encountered with this family-oriented business when we had to put up the Mandap/poruwa/wedding Altar. Since the day one until the wedding is over and taking the structure down, we had beautiful memories. Francesca and Shani are the ones we directly dealt with, and they are so accommodative for our requests and made us so welcome and comfortable. They helped us to make our decision in making our structure giving us very positive comments. They were very helpful with the time frame. On the day of the wedding as we arrived, the whole place decorated with flowers and it was elegantly beautiful! It was like I was in a fairy land, very magical. Francesca was extremely professional and decorated the place so beautifully to meet the wishes of the couple. Shani added beauty and flowless running of the show as a great coordinator. Shani is very professional, very kind and loving. She executed the program very elegantly and to the highest standard. We would recommend this venue to anyone without reservation! We left this place with our hearts filled with love and beautiful memories!