This weekend, choose from a giant goody bag of family-friendly events.
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 4, 2003
[Times photo: Carrie Pratt 2002]
Dunedin’s Main Street will be festive on Friday, with decorations, lights, singing and carriage rides. Here, Joe Peace, a stylist at Gregory’s Salon, adorns a light pole in front of the business last year.
[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
Largo Central Park will have a big holiday tree lighting on Friday evening. Besides the 200,000 lights, local musicians will dazzle the crowd.
If the day-after-Thanksgiving sales didn't get you in the holiday spirit, try leaving the credit cards at home this weekend, pack up the kids and find some low-cost fun. The malls and superstores will always be there, but with parades on land and sea, tree lightings and Santa sightings, this is the biggest weekend of the year in the Tampa Bay area for seasonal family fun. And it may be the only time of year you can experience the thrill of a snowball fight without the hassle of traveling up North.
There's no way to hit all the festivals (unless you can hitch a ride on Santa's sleigh), but if you plan your attack carefully, you can keep the party going well into Sunday. You'll find complete details, including phone numbers, parking information and admission prices (though most of these festivals are free) in the Get Away Calendar. There are many more events in the calendar, and don't forget ongoing events that started last weekend, including Wild Wonderland at Lowry Park Zoo and the FantaSea of Lights at Clearwater's Pier 60.
Here are just a few highlights of this weekend's family-friendly activities:
FRIDAY:
Dunedin's Main Street will be even more festive than usual, with special downtown window decorations, singing by local church choirs, carriage rides, Santa's workshop and much more (including shopping, but at least you'll be out in the fresh air), 6-9 p.m.
At the very same time, Oldsmar offers a Winter Fest with a hill of 45,000 pounds of ice ground into "snow," plus music, pony rides and photos with Santa, all at R.E. Olds Park.
Largo Central Park offers up two nights (Fri.-Sat., 7-9 p.m.) of holiday fun, with the big holiday tree lighting scheduled for 7:20 p.m. Friday. Besides 200,000 lights, there'll be music from soloists such as local jazz standout Eric Darius and groups as big as the Largo High School Band of Gold.
Another two-day celebration (6-10 p.m. Fri. and noon-10 p.m. Sat.) is Pinellas Park's Holiday in the Park, with arts and crafts, choirs, hayrides, pictures with Santa ($5), food for purchase and more.
SATURDAY:
For nearly four generations of St. Petersburg children, it hasn't been Christmas until St. Nick himself rolls through downtown in the Santa Claus Parade. This year, more than 100 groups and bands are featured in the parade, starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at First Avenue S and Bayshore Drive, then following Bayshore north to Fifth Avenue N.
And to make Santa feel more at home in these balmy climes, the parade is followed by the St. Petersburg Snowfest in North Straub Park, where you'll find "snow," ice-skating, a toboggan slide and snowball target throwing, plus pony rides and a petting zoo, all between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Stick around for a couple of hours, and you can catch the Ballet Society's Nutcracker in the Park at 5:30 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday in North Straub Park, featuring talented students and professionals. Right after, the St. Petersburg Lighted Boat Parade starts at 6:45. You'll find prime viewing points all along the downtown waterfront, especially at North Straub Park and Vinoy Park, Bayshore Drive and Fifth Avenue NE, and on the Pier.
Meanwhile (11 a.m.-5 p.m.), Santa Fest takes over Ybor City with 30 tons of "snow," ice-skating, visits with Santa Claus (how does he keep the weight on, with all the zipping around he does?), multicultural entertainment on five stages, carnival games and crafts, all from Centennial Park to Centro Ybor.
Tampa's holiday parade, sponsored by the Krewe of Venus, begins at 4 p.m. at Nick Nuccio Parkway and Sixth Avenue, then winds through Ybor City, including fun-filled Seventh Avenue, to its conclusion at 15th Street and Palm Avenue.
You say you want more parades? No problem. Dunedin's Boat Parade leaves from Dunedin's Marker 1 Marina at 6:30 p.m. and heads south along the Intracoastal before turning around at Union Street to head back to Dunedin Marina, arriving about 8 p.m. Santa will arrive in the last boat so he can preside over the tree lighting in Edgewater Park. Best parade view is along Bayshore Boulevard and Edgewater Drive.
And in New Port Richey, the 7 p.m. Riverlights Boat Parade tours the Pithlachascotee River; prime viewing spots include the newly opened Cotee River Park or the riverfront at Sims Park downtown, where you can check out the tasty bites of Taste of the Holidays (5:30-11 p.m.).
SUNDAY
If you didn't get enough parading on Saturday, check out the Hillsborough River Holiday Boat Parade, starting at 5 p.m. from Hannah's Whirl, the bend in the river at 18th Street in Tampa. Canoes, kayaks, rafts and boats float downstream, passing Sulphur Springs Tower, the under-renovation landmark that's being illuminated for this event. The parade is expected to arrive at Lowry Park around 7 p.m. Wild Wonderland at the zoo is open until 9 p.m., so you can really make an evening of it.
