We were in the area and I really wanted to check this out. I love art and this is a really…read moreinteresting medium. If you decide to go, just know that there is no admission fee and you are free to come and enjoy the beach and sculptures, but it will cost you $5 per hour to park plus a small convenience fee and parking is quite limited. I was disappointed to see that though sculptures made with sand from treasure Island. I assume there was a logistical reason, that it seemed a little strange to me. I was also a little surprised by the designs and styles of the sculptures. There were actually very few that had an ocean or sand theme, with many artists choosing things that work personal to them. It was a very interesting experience. Also they leave the statues up, so if you are unable to attend, you can come and see the statues for a few weeks after the event.

I am always blown away by the creativeness and skill set that the sand artists have. This is my…read morefirst time to experience Sanding Ovations. It is located on Teasure Island Beach in front of Sloppy Joes. If you get there early enough there is the beach parking you can use but also plenty of event parking throughout the area that you'd just have to walk a little from. The beach parking is hourly so if you plan on spending some time down in that area walking around or eating after you see the sculptures it may be worth your bang to get into one of the flat rate parking locations. This event had an opening weekend with all the works, vendors, music, etc but was open all week basically 24/7 because it is not in tents or a secured area like the Sugar Sand Festival in Clearwater is. I went during the week early to avoid as many people as I can for my photos. They were also having an encore weekend the following weekend that would also have all the vendors, etc. Each piece you could fully walking around to get different angles for photos and see just how much detail went into these temporary pieces of art. Just beautiful and though a little windy when I went, the weather was perfect. This is a free event but they did have a donation box out that noted to help keep this free, donations are welcomed.

What a fun way to spend your afternoon. I spent about an hour and a half, trolley included,…read moreexploring the festival and shops! I parked at Madeira fundamental and rode the trolley to John's pass. It's free fair and "admission" and perfect for a nice ride. You're dropped off and picked up under the bridge-- super convenient! When walking around it was packed, but definitely busy. I got the crab Rangoon cheese sticks and a strawberry lemonade. Both were good, but not outstanding. The food selection was unfortunately smaller than anticipated, but there was some great live music!

Overall **** This is a well put together street fair that is large enough to spend a few hours at…read morebut small enough to not be too crowded. It is free to enter and there are no gimmicks like buying tickets to get food. The crowd was very chill (mostly 50-70 years old), the music was good as was the shopping and it was a great way to spend 2-3 hours. We did choose to eat at a restaurant instead of the vendors because it was too hot to walk around eating a big meal out of plastic containers. Let's start with the parking. Personally I wouldn't even attempt to drive all the way to the festival, if you go early it is possible but you may have trouble getting back out. Using the free shuttle service was very easy to use. We used the free lot at Madeira Beach Fundamental School. The shuttle seems to run about every 10 minutes from there. It takes about 20 minutes to get from the lot to the festival. There is additional parking at City Hall but I don't suggest that. The trolley's load first at the school so if it's full there you aren't getting on at City Hall. When returning it stops at the school first so the trip is 10 minutes shorter than City Hall. Ok, enough about the parking let's get onto the festival itself. The trolley will drop you off and pick you up at the John's Pass parking at the foot of the bridge. You will walk under the bridge and up Boardwalk Place East. It will be obvious where to go from there or you can follow the music. If you are in need of a mixed drink I suggest you stop at the festival entrance where the Friendly Fisherman Restaurant has an outside bar/tent. The mixed drink lines grow dramatically the further in you go. If you are drinking beer or coolers those are everywhere and at only $4 a bargain. There is a large stage at Boardwalk and Village but if you prefer something quieter, a smaller stage is straight down the end of Boardwalk. Along Village Blvd is where most of the action is with plenty of food and other retail vendors. All the brick and mortar stores were open so there is plenty of shopping to do. As far as the food goes, while it is predominantly seafood there are other options as well. The one downside I felt is they were all selling essentially full meals and they are no bargain. We wanted more of small bites we could walk around with sampling different options. If you choose to go the full meal route there is a large covered eating area in the parking lot at Village Blvd and 129th where there is an even larger stage. This is already long enough so I will wrap it up with a few other highlights; -There is a kids zone on 129th. -Dogs are allowed. -The North end at Bamboo Beach Bar is more adult oriented.

We had planned that morning to go down and see the kite show and I am glad we did!…read more It was a gorgeous day for January so we grabbed our chairs, packed a cooler, and met up with some friends for a laid back day looking towards the sky. We could not have asked for a better day! When you walk towards the beach you could see them soaring in the blue sky. We walked out towards the center and sat for a few ours. There were several that were practicing for competitions. ( One of the flyers even described how he maneuvered the dual handle kites). They kind of had that jet fighter flight patterns. The large fluffy ones are my favorite! Floating like clouds above the beach... so relaxing. If you have never been before, I would definitely suggest going next year. I hope the weather is perfect! See u Soon!

Truly kites festival at the beach. The community welcome this venue at a good weather day at winter…read moreseason. The temperature is 70 degrees for mid January was great for this outdoor event. Many kites were flying high in the sky. We can spot it a mile away before we arrive. The event is packed with people at the beach which doesn't feel cramped. The kites can be watched in a distance at the beach. There are many shapes of kites. I like particular the snoopy and Charley Brown. There are at least 3 sting ray giant kites. I also like the performance kites. At least over 50 kites in the air. Not counting those smaller kites.

Food was good, services were great. This is the best farmers market in St Petersburg area. The…read moredowntown location advertises 120 booths but we have been twice and 50 if they are lucky. Lots of crafts and arts at Corey Ave (St Petersburg Beach).

Will never attend again, parked in an empty lot, all the businesses closed, bought our vegetables,…read morein there about 30 minutes, came out vehicle towed, had to uber to downtown St Pete, $350 tow charge, too many other options

Fabulous dancing & musical presentation!! Food line was…read moreslow & blocked the entrance/exit to the large indoor food & entertainment arena. Volunteers tried desperately to manage this issue & I commend them. Food was a major disappointment! Moussaka was NOT made as listed with eggplant but rather with Zucchini. Had the menu disclosed this we would have selected differently & enjoyed our meal. I urge the church to correct this ERROR. The Greek Culture room was the most wonderful part of this festival. The volunteers were knowledgeable and appeared to truly enjoy sharing their knowledge of Greek Culture& History with us.

The food was delicious. I had the moussaka platter, followed with baklava drizzled with chocolate.read more

Excellent plant show, with the exception being the lack of any arrangements for parking. There is a…read moreschool nearby - I'm not sure why they don't plan for people to park there. We parked on a nearby street, in front of houses, but there were no sidewalks, so maneuvering around other cars that were driving up and down looking for parking was tricky. The location was a really great spot for plant booths to be set up, under many shade trees, which made the temperature perfect. There were plenty of different plant offerings - with some nurseries carrying a wide variety of options, while others specialized in orchids, bonsai trees, desert roses, succulents, etc. There was also a booth set up from the local day lily society and the local gesneriaceae society. You could also purchase miscellaneous garden accessories, like bird baths, bird feeders, pots, and random decorations. Garden tool sharpening and soil assessments were also offered. I bought a cool hanging plant and an interesting begonia, and Jon replenished his stock of day lilies, so we called the day a success. Final Tip: Even though the hours say it started at 9 am, many people were already leaving with plant purchases at that time, so next year we would arrive earlier.

Wow! I've never been to a plant festival as big as this. There are vendors for plants, arts and…read morecrafts, garden ornaments, and food. Most plants are cheaper than at the big box stores and comparable to nurseries. The advantage of attending this event is that all the nurseries and vendors are in one place for you to shop. Expect to spend about 2 hours there if you want to visit all the vendors. I saw so many wagons being pulled loaded with all types of plants and flowers. I made it out of there with a couple of peppermint plants and 2 pots of jasmine. Don't forget to visit inside the gymnasium for the flower show. You get to vote on the best horticulture piece and the best design piece. Tons of lots and street parking if you're willing to walk just 2 blocks.

John came for our friend's bachelorette and we had a TIME!!! Hilarious and adapted to our crazy…read moresetting of 12 tipsy women. He made it special for our bride and the tricks were amazing! He also pulled through with Girl Scout cookies at the end!! Shout out his lovely daughter for those!

Thank you for such a wonderful evening. it was a lot of fun. Its the perfect way to keep the crowd…read moreentertained.

If you're a wine lover and enjoy free tastings, Florida Orange Groves Winery is definitely worth a…read morevisit. This location offers a huge variety of wines made right on-site, with unique flavors like key lime, peach, strawberry, passion fruit, and more. Their Hurricane wine is their bestseller and for good reason. I did the tasting flight with 4 flavors for $17, and it was a great way to sample different wines. They also offer complimentary tastings, wine slushies, flavorful spreads, and cute trinkets throughout the shop. There's even a cozy lounge area in the back where you can relax and enjoy your drinks. The customer service was excellent, and the staff was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about all the wines. I make it a point to stop by every time I'm in the area. Bonus: you can also order wines for shipping directly from their website

I absolutely loved the Florida Orange Groves Winery. The customer service was top-tier. We stopped…read morein after the beach and decided to stick around for the wine tasting that was starting shortly. We got to try several different Florida wines that are made in house at the winery. Some of my faves were the hurricane and I enjoyed each one of the wine slushy's including the strawberry banana, the hurricane, and the best of all was the orange Creamsicle slushy. I decided to purchase some of the orange Creamsicle wine slushy mix to take home and make orange Creamsicle mocktails and received some of the cute little wine bottle greeting cards. They also have military discount.

I was in Unit 201, from Global Destinations, and its a clean spacious one bedroom unit with a full…read morekitchen. It's nice unit with French doors and a balcony on the street side across the street from the Gulf, and a set of French doors and balcony in the bedroom, overlooking the pool and Courtyard. There is a nice public boardwalk beach access two buildings to the left alongside the Vizcaya. The beach crowd was sparse, so it was relaxing and almost private, and the water was clean and the perfect temperature. There's no red tide or green slime here, and I think people may be avoiding Florida beaches thinking it's everywhere. I guess we reaped the benefits! Things to do besides the beach...plenty of restaurants and shopping at John's Pass, Mustang and Wagon Wheel Flea Market on the weekend, Tuesday Gulfport Market, Salt Rock Grill in Indian Rocks for dinner and drinks on the water, and a leisurely drive down Gulf Blvd to daily Clearwater Pier 60 Sunset Festivals. Life is good!

What a wonderful place to stay long term or short term. The Rooms are very clean pool is…read morespectacular . Short walking distance to ocean!! Very calming atmosphere!