Art, music festival changes site, fee

The location at Omaha and Delaware streets, across from the high school, is new. So is the admission price - $1.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 6, 2002

PALM HARBOR -- They've moved it two blocks, but they think you'll find it. They'll charge you $1 to get in, but they think you'll pay it.

Even with all the changes, the Greater Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce expects people will continue their preholiday trek to the annual Fine Arts, Crafts and Music Festival this weekend on a grassy field near Palm Harbor University High School.

"I don't think people will have a problem paying. This is a high quality, juried show," said Connie Davis, president and CEO of the chamber. "The advantage is there will be plenty of parking and it will be very secure for the artists."

She said the entire area will be fenced, and a security guard will keep watch during the night.

Last year, one or more thieves tiptoed into some of the booths and carried off a 30-pound, $1,900 acrylic called Italian Courtyard and other items.

Security was hardly an issue in 1975 when Bill Hoskins and his wife, Louise, organized a small art show when their antique and art store opened in the old Hill Building.

They called it the First Annual Palm Harbor Blue Grass Music and Antique and Art Festival. Fifty artists showed their watercolors and sculptures on the sidewalks outside and 2,200 people showed up to browse, eat a fish dinner and square dance in the street.

"Some of the pioneer people were amazed this was happening in Palm Harbor," said Louise Hoskins.

Since then, the show has undergone tremendous changes. It was taken over by the chamber and expanded. Now more than 30,000 people attend each year to see up to 200 artists.

This year's festival will be held for the first time at Omaha and Delaware streets, across from the high school, and for the first time, people will be charged admission.

"The show was moved in anticipation of work being done on the street," said Davis, referring to the downtown Main Street revitalization program. "The School Board owns the (lot) and we leased it from them. The extra charge will help defray expenses."

She said the additional gate charge will also go toward prize money for the artists. The package has risen from $13,000 last year to $16,550 this year.

And it will pay for other things, such as the $1,000 Bill and Louise Hoskins student scholarship and entertainment.

"We've expanded more on the live music this year," said Davis. "The Dapper Dan Band will play Southern rock, there will be acoustic rock, fiddlers and a guy who plays accordion."

Hoskins will not be there this year. He died in June at 76.

Louise Hoskins, who said she will live in the house she and Bill shared on Florida Avenue near the old art store until the day she dies, will accept an award on her late husband's behalf at the show's annual Patron Party Saturday night at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.

-- Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com.

If you go

The Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce's 28th annual Fine Arts, Crafts and Music Festival is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Omaha and Delaware streets in Palm Harbor, across from Palm Harbor University High School. Admission is $1. Children under 15 admitted free. Parking is available at the school lot for $3 per car.

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