Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
The Floral City Strawberry Festival offers you-know-what as well as other tasty morsels and an arts and crafts show.
By JORGE SANCHEZ
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 2, 2001
A mound of delicious strawberry shortcakes awaits hungry visitors at this weekend's Floral City Strawberry Festival.
This year, staffers from Hospice of Citrus County will be working at the shortcake tent, which stays very busy. Shortcakes are $3.
Once you've had a shortcake or two, there are still lots of activities. There's even more great food.
Among the local favorites will be barbecued ribs and chicken and sweet potato pie from Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Floral City. The Inverness Sertoma club will sell sausage and pepper subs. The American Legion post in Floral City will offer meatball subs.
The Homosassa Chamber of Commerce will sell burgers, corn dogs and french fries. Other vendors will have Greek food, pizza, barbecued beef sandwiches and kettle corn.
The Citrus Chamber of Commerce will sell flats of strawberries supplied by Ferris Groves.
After lunch, the best way to walk off the calories is to stroll along the Floral Park bike path and check out the 200 arts and crafts vendors.
Floral Park is on U.S. 41 about 2 miles south of the only traffic light in Floral City. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2, and children under 12 get in free.
A free shuttle bus service takes passengers from the Citrus County Auditorium to the festival. Buses leave about every 15 minutes. It's the best way to get to the festival, because passengers are dropped off at the front gate. There is also free parking at the festival site.
Saturday:
9:30 -- Suncoast Cloggers
10:15 -- Amazzing Steel Drums
11:15 -- Jesse Watson
11:30 -- Citrus County Cloggers
12:15 p.m. -- Amazzing Steel Drums
1:15 -- Riverlanders of Dunnellon
2 -- Strawberry Jam, featuring Two Thorns and a Rose; Jim and Sheila Harpin, Duty Dotson, Betsy Wentworth, Jimmy Brown, Miriam Foster, Laura Strawn, Brandy Lynn Halkett, Shirley Frazier, Rachel Hough and Paige Halkett.
Sunday
Gospel music until 1 p.m.
9:30 a.m. -- Carol Lee Wallis
10 -- Sonshine Quartet
10:45 -- Mandy Bowman
11:45 -- David and Rusty
12:15 p.m. -- Sonshine Quartet
1 -- Jesse Watson
1:30 -- Lecanto High chorus
2:30 -- Inverness Pipes and Drums
Saturday
All day -- Games and crafts by the hay bales.
Noon -- Strawberry pie eating contest, ages 4 to 17
12:30 p.m. -- Strawberry pie eating contest, adults
2:30 -- Story time from the Citrus County library
Sunday
All day -- Games and crafts.
Noon -- Strawberry pie eating contest, ages 4 to 17
12:30 -- Strawberry pie eating contest, adults
2 p.m. -- Little Miss Strawberry Princess Pageant
3 -- Miss Strawberry Princess Pageant