» 2010 » March

• Tampa Bay Blues Festival

  Written by Connie Langhorst No Comments
  Last Updated: March 29, 2010

  Live Blues at its Best!

  Each year since 1995, some of the biggest names in blues music have taken the stage at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival.  

  Blues enthusiasts the world over converge on St. Petersburg’s scenic waterfront to enjoy this live showcase of American Blues music. With acres of grass and palm trees, Vinoy Park is the perfect tropical setting for one of the world’s biggest and best blues concerts.

  Proceeds benefit Pinellas Association for Retarded Children.

  The 2010 Tampa Bay Blues Festival is scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 9, 10, and 11, with musical acts Jimmie Vaughan, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, J.J. Grey & Mofro, Bettye Lavette, Little Ed and the Blues Imperials, Magic Slim, Joe Lewis Walker, Shemekia Copeland and many more. With a state-of-the-art PA system, this year promises to be one of the biggest events on the Tampa Bay music scene, and one of the most popular Tampa Bay attractions.

  Tampa Bay Blues Festival has established itself as one of the world’s preeminent blues concerts, having presented over 250 of the world’s greatest live blues musical performers. Over the years, the stage has welcomed legends such as Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Taj Mahal, Robert Cray, Delbert McClinton, Little Feat, Jonny Lang, Los Lobos, Jerry Lee Lewis, Koko Taylor, Jimmie Vaughan, Irma Thomas, Susan Tedeschi, and others, in what has truly become a magnificent celebration of music.

  Attendees can partake in hot blues, cool beverages, and tasty food, including seafood, barbecue, Cuban cuisine, and other culinary treats. Festival vendors also include arts & crafts. In addition to great music and warm weather, participants can enjoy visiting downtown St. Petersburg, with its many restaurants, clubs, and art museums, including the world famous Dali Museum. From downtown St. Petersburg, guests may wish to explore the area, traveling twenty minutes by car to tour the communities of Gulfport, Pass-a-Grille, Tierra Verde, Treasure Island, and St. Pete Beach (to name a few fun and interesting destinations).  In Tierra Verde, Ft. De Soto Park offers camping, nature and biking trails, kayak and bicycle rentals, covered picnic areas, and one of the finest beaches in the world (North Beach, voted the #1 beach by TripAdvisor in 2008 and 2009).  

  The Tampa Bay Blues Festival provides the best in live blues entertainment, in an ideal tropical setting, in support of a worthwhile cause. 

  Join in the fun of three days of Blues by the Bay . . . in Paradise Found!

  For event details and information, visit www.TampaBayBluesFest.com.

  CREDITS:  Artwork/information courtesy of www.TampaBayBluesFest.com.

• Gulfport Goes Green

  Written by Connie Langhorst No Comments
  Last Updated: March 22, 2010

  Gulfport Goes Green, a monthly (free and open to the public) street fair focused on green and healthy living, eco-consciousness, and sustainability, is hosted in the fun and funky waterfront community of Gulfport in Pinellas County (FL).

  All are welcome to attend this family-friendly event, which takes place on the fourth Saturday of each month from 10AM through 5PM in the Gulfport Waterfront District.

  Plan ahead by bringing along unwanted or outdated items from your closet, office/den, or garage.  Gulfport Goes Green features computer and battery recycling, a clothing and book swap, and Florida Blood Services is onhand to accept blood donations.

  Speakers, vendors, artists, along with anyone “green with curiosity,” are invited to join the fun!  Individuals and businesses are welcome.   More information is available on the Vendor Information page of the Gulfport Goes Green website at www.GulfportGoesGreen.com.

  Gulfport Goes Green Activities Include:

  • A Book Swap hosted by Small Adventures Book Shop
  • Computer Recycling at The Gulfport Technology Center
  • Battery Recycling at The Outpost*
  • A Clothing Swap hosted by LocalShops1 in support of the Salvation Army Woman’s Shelter (with special thanks to BoTiki for the space)
  • Florida Blood Services blood donations

  *THE OUTPOST

  The Outpost has become the hub of activity for Gulfport Goes Green!  Donations of time and talent , community spirit, and mass quanities of heart and soul, contribute to the success of this little store.  Brimming with one of a kind art pieces, The Outpost is a fun place to shop.  Leslie Gilchrist, the owner, displays eco-friendly items, including night lights made from recycled bottles, skirts made of recycled jeans and t-shirts, rainbarrels, and palm frond fish.   Tiki masks painted to whimsical perfection and carved wooden bowls also add charm to the environment.  The store also features handmade jewelry and Hawaiian-style shirts by Ben Worn and Ima Stillgood.  And, more adventurous shoppers can augment the experience of Gulfport Goes Green with a kayak trip or guided eco-tour of Clam Bayou!

  The residents (and friends) of this quaint and funky waterfront community have a favored saying . . . ”If you’re too weird for Gulfport, you’re just too weird.”

  Gulfport Goes Green is another fun way to spend the day . . . in Paradise Found!

  CREDITS:  Photos courtesy of www.GulfportGoesGreen.com.  Information used for this blogpost was taken from the afore-mentioned website.

• Cajun Zydeco Crawfish Festival

  Written by Connie Langhorst No Comments
  Last Updated: March 8, 2010

  

  Visitors to Pinellas County and residents alike enjoy the annual Cajun Zydeco Crawfish Festival. 

  If you favor good music, and Creole and Cajun food, then you won’t want to miss it! 

  There will be live music performed by numerous bands, crawfish races, crawfish eating contests, activities for children, exhibits, art displays, food and beverage booths, and dancing . . . lots and lots of dancing! 

  The  family-friendly Festival attracts thousands of participants each year. And, more than ten thousand pounds of crawfish are consumed, although the event also features a variety of food specialties (not all of them hot and spicy). But if you like hot sauce, then this is the place to be!  Various purveyors will offer the concoction for sale. 

  It’s a hot . . . hot . . . hot . . . event!  A lively, foot-stomping and booty-shaking activity with some of the best live Zydeco music anywhere!

  Another spicy hot reason to enjoy a weekend . . . in Paradise Found! 

  EVENT DETAILS:

  The event will take place along the water’s edge at Vinoy Park, Fifth Avenue NE at North Shore Drive, in downtown St. Petersburg (FL).   The Festival begins at 4:30P on Friday (3/12) and picks up again at 12N on Saturday (3/13) and Sunday (3/14). 

  Admission is free for children aged 10 and younger.  The cost is $12 for Friday or Sunday admission, $15 for Saturday, and $35 for all three days.

  For more information about the Cajun Zydeco Crawfish Festival, call (727) 892-5798 or visit www.CajunConnection.org.

  CREDITS:  Photos courtesy of www.CajunConnection.org.

• Go For Baroque at Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete

  Written by Bob Horn No Comments
  Last Updated: March 4, 2010

   The Baroque World of Fernando Botero is the current featured exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Petersburg.  The exhibition runs from January 9th through April 4th, and it includes 100 paintings, sculptures, and drawings from Botero’s private collection.  Many of the works have not been exhibited publicly before.  In addition to all of the work on exhibit inside the museum, there are two extraordinary pieces that have been strategically placed on the front and rear lawns of the museum.

  Botero, a world-renowned Colombian born painter and sculptor, is known for creating works of art that are united by their proportionally exaggerated, or “fat” figures, as he once referred to them.  Botero graduated from Medellin University in Colombia in 1950, and in following years, studied in Madrid, Florence, New York, and Paris, where he moved in 1973 and where he lives today.

  As one can see from the two sculptures that are in temporary residence outside the museum, Botero appears to have fun with his craft, and this theme can be seen throughout much of his work.  If you’d like to get a little of the ‘flavor’ of Botero’s work, you can check out this link at Google Images.  And if you’d like to see either of the images below in its full-screen splendor, just click on the photo.

  For information about the Museum of Fine Arts, including location, direction, hours of operation, and more, check out their website.

  

   

• Weedon Island Preserve . . . Where Kids Learn Free

  Written by Connie Langhorst No Comments
  Last Updated: March 1, 2010

  Florida has a rich heritage and there is plenty of natural history to enjoy and be inspired by throughout Pinellas County.

  The Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center, located at 1800 Weedon Drive NE, in St. Petersburg, FL, offers educational programs for kids and adults.

  From March 4 through May 27, the Center is offering classes, with a new lesson every other Thursday, presented by a local archaeologist.  This free, after-school program is one that “kids and parents can really dig” (according to Andrew DeLong, Staff Writer, for the St. Petersburg Times).

  Rae Harper, who is working on her master’s thesis in applied anthropology at the University of South Florida, leads the program, entitled “Project Archaeology: Investigating Shelter.” Her aim is to inspire students to think like an archaeologist by analyzing artifacts and re-creating archaeological sites using familiar materials.  Each lesson affords a different learning exercise related to archaeological research and how to apply that knowledge to an activity.  The lessons include hands-on training and discussion, with the goal of helping students hone their observational skills, use the concept of interference and learn to think critically about the past.

  The program is free and is recommended for families with children ages eight and older.

  It is Rae Harper’s hope, as an archaeologist, that students will “walk away with a better understanding and appreciation of archaeology, and if I do inspire them to become passionate about school, that would be great.”

  Heritage and Natural History . . . It’s all here . . . in Paradise Found!

  ABOUT THE CENTER

  Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center lies within Weedon Island Preserve and is part of Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management’s Environmental Lands Division (ELD). The Center supports the applied management and ecological monitoring objectives of the division through educational programming and volunteerism. 

  The education program at the Center interprets the natural, cultural and archaeological history of the Preserve through interpretive tours and hikes, education programs, exhibits and public outreach activities, presentations and workshops, and other events.

  The three-story Center was designed with the help of Native Americans and keeps with their traditions. For example, the orientation of the Center in the Preserve is along the cardinal points of the compass (north, south, east, and west) with the entrance facing east.

  A special curved wall is representative of the remarkable pottery of the early Weeden (alternate spelling) Island people who lived on the island some 1,000 to 1,800 years ago. Portions of the Preserve are on the National Register of Historic Places. 

  K-12 Programs
  Public, private and homeschool teachers find Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center and the Preserve wonderful alternatives to their usual classroom. The Center developed FCAT-approved curricula that broaden students’ knowledge about our coastal environment and the people who once inhabited the area. On-site teacher training can be arranged, as well as field trips for classes.

  Information about Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center is online at www.weedonislandpreserve.org or by phone at (727) 453-6500.

  CREDITS:  Information for this post provided courtesy of the Weedon Island Preserve website and St. Petersburg Times (Sunday, February 28, 2010, Neighborhood Section, “Kids Learn Basics of Archaeology Free”).
• «
• « Newer
• 1
• Older »
• »