This is one of the largest annual events in Sanford. Since it's inception (probably about 10 years…read moreago?) It seems to have grown bigger every year. This time around, the city decided to close down the second lane on SR 46 west bound just after airport Blvd. We were waiting in traffic just to park for close to 30 minutes without any movement. Finally we were able to pull off the main road, park in the Sunrail lot and walk the rest of the way (about 10min). This wasn't a big deal since we had Halloween calories to burn . I am not sure why the city decided to do this but when we got to the event, there was plenty of parking space in the main lot. With parking out of the way, the event is free so you just walk right on in, purchase tickets from one of several ticket booths then enjoy the rides and games. There are several large rides that are great for kids and adults but nothing compares to what Disney or Universal Studios is packing. There is plenty of seating but for a limited time. Once this place fills up people tend to hold tables and NEST for the remainder of the evening. There is a variety of food to choose from such as: Mexican, Philippino, and Latin American dishes along with standard American fair foods like pizza, corn dogs, funnel cakes, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage and peppers, cheese steak, fried fish and chicken wings. This year, they had a great idea with the Beer Garden. They divided the line up so that at one tent you could only purchase Bud Light and at the other tent you could purchase all of your other drinks. Bud Light is King here since the Wayne Densch is within walking distance. This did help move the line along much more quickly than previous experiences. There are several craft style shops to explore that have great homemade jewlery, soaps, games, gift type items and clothing to choose from. There is a basket raffle with a lot of great prizes that can be won at the close of the event. There is also a large stage In front of the church with live music playing most of the day and evening. Tonight (11-2-19) Hayfire was the headliner and they are always on point. Tomorrow (11-3-19) The American Hotrods go on at 6:00pm. If you like some 80's Rock, you need to check them out. If you are in the area, definitely check out the Community Harvest Festival before the event ends Sunday (11-3-19 @ 8:00pm)

This festival is a lot of fun. Food, games, rides, and prizes. There are raffles and silent…read moreauctions. Also a live band plays on stage. While here be sure to do a tour of the church. It's really beautiful.

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

One hundred years…read more The Seminole County Centennial Festival is a celebration of the century that Seminole Country has been in existence. The emphasis is on agriculture, education, history, transportation and quality of life. Lot of arts and crafts, historic displays, dancing, music, plants and of course food. The police were there showing off their cool toys like a helicopter and armored car and had some guys walking around with full body armor. Cool stuff to look at up close. All the towns of the country were represented and many had very cool displays from their historical societies. Fascinating people to talk to, they know a whole lot about the history of their towns. A huge kids area was being well used by the little ones and quite a few food trucks were around so people could stuff their faces while looking at the cool stuff. Much of the fair seemed to center around agriculture and lots of plants and farming stuff was for sale. A great place to learn about the weird looking and exotic plants in the region. The fair wasn't as large as I though it would be, certainly much smaller than the huge fairs of this type in the north east. It was interesting and educational and considering it was free, a great way to spend the afternoon.

We attended this event to market a mortgage company here. We were able to spend time to enjoy the…read morelocal artwork and I did really like 3 artists. We plan to look them up in the near future to purchase. This event featured not only local art but beer and German food. Many vendors were there to raise money, earn money or just for networking purposes. We tried a few food items, grilled bratwurst with brotchen and sauerkraut. The bratwurst was grilled nice but all was far from authentic. There were other wine vendors there, if only I drank wine, I'd probably enjoy it. The event was descent and it was a great way to bring people together to advertise and network.

We love this event and have been going every since since at least 2015!…read more The event keeps getting better and better each year! There are a ton of GREAT artists showcasing their artwork (everything from paintings to photos to jewelry, sculptures, carvings and more) and a lot more! Some local businesses have booths there, too, which allows for the best of both worlds! The food is pretty good, too, although we don't really go for the food. They DO have some German food trucks, which fit the theme, and other options that are pretty good. Alcohol is also available. But it's a great event with a lot to do. They also seem to have this event on pleasant weekends (weather-wise) which is nice! It's a great family event, or if you're single and ready to mingle, it's good for that, too! I've seen all crowds at this event, which makes it even more fun! If you're looking for something fun and relaxing to do, I'd recommend this event!

This festival turned out to be a lot better than I expected. My biggest worry was that after 2…read morehours I'd want to leave but I'm happy to say that that was not the case. My friend and I bought the online tickets for beer tasting which with a service fee came out to $28.50 or something in that area. This was for the orange wristband so our time for beer sampling was from 4 to 7pm. We arrived at 3 p.m. and already the entrance was out of the Kevin Bacon shirts, so we had to make our way to the the actual Kevin Bacon booth to get one from the pile there; but that was not a big deal, and the people there were very nice so we didn't mind the booth visit. Pros: In my opinion; there was a good variety of bacon snacks ranging from $2 - 5, but there were other things to choose from as well including burgers, an incredible grilled cheese with bacon jam served up by the restaurant: "hammered lamb". That was my absolute most favorite thing there. It was nice that the majority of the booths there were offering some kind of free tid bit, be it a magnet, key chain, and there was even one offering a smores kit if you threw marshmallows into the hole; so even if you don't buy the drinking ticket, nor actually buy any beer, you'd still walk away with free goodies. Sonny's set up a tent to give seminars on how to BBQ different types of meats. They put out several seats and then gave samples after each lecture. Cons: I still think that $28.50 is steep for a beer sampling ticket. I just keep thinking that I could've gone to total wine, and gotten 2 six packs of different types of beers and done my own home sampling and it still would've been cheaper. If I go again, I wont buy the beer sampling ticket, I'll just buy an individual beer, those started at $4 a piece. The map given to you at the entrance said that the Sonny's tent was supposed to have an offering of smoked wings but we didn't see that at all which is a shame because beer and wings go hand in hand; just couldn't get over that. While the Sonny's "How to BBQ" seminar was a great idea, especially when it was followed by a tasting; I think they left out a lot of key points that I thought were common sense when making any kind of smoked meat. The one in particular that bothered me was the fact that they neglected to remove the membrane attached to the bones on the ribs, but this was nothing compared to it being one of the toughest ribs I've ever tried to eat. I had always understood that a decent rack of ribs had proper smoke time, and the meat should fall off the bone. It had good flavor, but that was about it. So I'm still trying to figure out how they were trying to teach others to BBQ, if they themselves flunked out on basic things? Overall I'd go again for sure because I did have a really good time, and the beer sampling was cool, if not expensive in my view. I personally would buy an individual beer next time, and hopefully the seminar will give tips and advice that lead to a good BBQ end product.

I've rounded this up to 4 stars, but in my mind the 2017 event is more like a 3.5, mainly because…read morethe Bacon part of the festival wasn't as extensively showcased as in previous years! Case in point - where were the stalls for 4 Rivers Smokehouse or Miller's Ale House, Omaha Steakhouse, Ruth's Chris Steak House or The Hammered Lamb or even Whole Foods Market? Yeah, there were some good food trucks, but I wanted more local variety rather than just Sonny's BBQ dominating the food experience! The cooking demos were great, but I really missed the variety of local food this year. The beer on the other hand - the selection there was excellent, the pours were generous and it was a lovely way to while away a sunny Central FL October day by the beautiful Cranes Roost Park lake. Parking at Altamonte was a breeze, and my friends reported the same near the Uptown Altamonte area too. Vendors were giving out great freebies - the sunglasses and the beer cozies came in super handy as did the recyclables bags. Also cost was really good - the Be. er sampling tickets was $25 advance and $35 day of event I'll be back again next year, but fingers crossed there will be more local food choices! Yelp 164/2017

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.

The Asian Lantern Festival is a stunning display of colors, lights and culture! This is a festivity…read morefit for all, family friendly or a perfect date or just to come stroll and enjoy a unique display of art. This festival is held at the Central Florida Zoo, and sprawls all the way through the zoo, which is cool. You are able to see some of the animals along with the lanterns- if they're out at night, since the festival is in the evenings. It has a really fun variety of installations, sectioned into like 4 different areas with very different themes. There's a Florida section, of course, a garden area as well as a fantasy land, and some others. The entire thing goes in a big loop around the zoo so it's easy to navigate. It's such a stunning display: gorgeous and otherworldly art that really not enough words can sum up just how cool it actually is. It's one of those times where you feel all the good things in the world at once when you're looking at the lanterns and it's almost euphoric, walking through the colors and sparkles and interactions of culture, beauty and design. They do have a lot of concessions options around if you want snacks or something to drink. And there's quite a few interactive areas- one of my favorites were the nitro bubbles by the big crab, such fun! This is so worth the price of admission and I'd recommend going earlier, like right when the festival opens to beat all the crowds because it gets really packed.

This was such a unique experience, it's in my area but first time I had the opportunity to attend…read more The tickets we're about $25 per person, free parking at the Central Florida Zoo. It's held at night so the zoo itself was closed. The entire zoo was adorned with the Asian themed displays. Lots of lights and moving displays to look at and interact with. If you have kids they will definitely enjoy this, I didn't go with kids but I also enjoyed the experience. You can bring snacks and water probably, no one checked my bag, I did have a bottle of water with me, wish I thought about the snacks also. If you have kids I'd definitely bring a few snacks, they do have some stands with food and snacks, as you'd expect they're expensive. Great experience and I'd do it again.

Went to the art festival and it was amazing!! an activity to repeat, nice setup and organized…read more Can't wait to go back!! All the art was very nice. The ambiance was perfect for a Sunday afternoon

I had a good time here at the park in Apopka. The vibe was nice but wish the music could be better…read more The burger I had was good but the wait has to improve. I will return to try other vendors.