Something to sink your teeth into

Food, crafts, music and - yes - snakes attracted a crowd to San Antonio on Saturday.

[Times photo: Dan McDuffie]

Dennis Moore holds open an eastern diamondback rattlesnake's mouth Sunday during a Snakes Alive Show at the Rattlesnake Festival in San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO - Joey Mathieu made it to the Rattlesnake Festival just in time for the day's last snake show.

"They showed a cobra," said Joey, 9. "The Indian cobra spits."

Joey of Zephyrhills spent Saturday afternoon at the festival with his mom and her boyfriend. After his first time at the event, Joey said he'll be going back next year if his mom will bring him.

"It was fun," he said.

The event's president, F.J. Collura, said he was pleased with Saturday's turnout.

"It started out a little slack this morning," he said. "But toward the end of the day we got a really nice crowd."

The weekend's weather was perfect by Collura's standards. Sunny, breezy, high in the lower 80s. "You can't beat that," he said. "That's chamber of commerce weather anywhere."

Despite its name, the annual festival is mostly about food, crafts, music and family fun these days, not about snakes. This was the 37th year that folks have gathered in the heart of San Antonio for the fest. "You can come to this event and spend all day and never see a snake," Collura said. "But if you go into that snake show, you will come out with a different perspective."

The Snakes Alive Show was repeated several times Saturday and Sunday. It is meant to be educational and entertaining, Collura said. "They tell people the real scoop about snakes."

For those more interested in food than snakes, there was plenty of barbecued chicken, hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, boiled peanuts and cotton candy. There were also games and crafts.

Dottie Barr and her husband, Tom, ran a candle making booth.

"We love it here," she said. "We love the atmosphere. It's very family orientated."

Customers at their booth picked from 12 different colors and several different scents to make candles in different shapes with names or messages on them.

The Barrs of Dade City have been setting up shop at the festival for the past six years.

"It's always a nice crowd," Dottie Barr said. "That's what makes it a nice festival."

One of the other vendors sold bows with suction-cup arrows. Joey Mathieu spent the end of his afternoon practicing his aim with one. His mom had given him a choice, and he picked that over a session at the rock climbing wall.

"I wanted something I could keep," he explained.

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