I absolutely LOVE this Sugar Sand Festival. I have been here a few years now and this was hands…read moredown my favorite to date. I went by myself because I knew that it was Dino themed, which I am such a geek about and didn't want to hold up any of my family and friends while I just stared and took the tons of photos I knew I was going to take. Aside from loving the theme, you just have to be in awe of the amazing artwork, skill, patience, creativity, etc it takes to make any of these designs. Like I said, I have been there over the course of several years and honestly, I don't know why I don't make it an annual event to visit. It will never be the same and is reasonably priced. You also don't have people rushing you along to allow for more people to enter. If you feel you do, that is something you allow to happen as I have never felt, seen or heard anything like that. I love hearing people, young or old come in and gasp at the sights and the joy it brings to people while amazing them. To me, this is something that wows everyone, and brings smiles more so to the adults as they understand what it all takes to complete. They always have a sand sculptor present and working so that people can see what goes into the process. They also have a section dedicated to junior or aspiring professional sculptors to showcase their work, which you can vote on by putting in a donation in their boxes to help with their costs (and maybe decide the winner). Even those are wonderful but generally don't match the rest of the theme. 1000% advise anyone in the area during this festival to visit, it is well worth it.

Very cute . Kids would love this it was a dinosaur theme this year . Boys would love this . A lot…read moreof places gave out a lot of free swag. It's spin wheels to win little toys and knickknacks decent prices on liquor five dollars for 25 ounces of Zephyrhills water and aluminum bottle which is very cheap by the way lol I'm very very cold. It was a nice day in Clearwater Beach. It was perfect weather no humidity and very warm couldn't ask for a better day. Definitely if you have a kids this is a place to go or a nice day out with a loved one.

OMG... We had such a blast. Great fun & excellent entertainment, spicy foods, sauces and salsas to…read moresample and purchase.a pepper eating contest, amateur salsa and hot sauce competitions and a spicy lolly lick-a-thon.folks dont miss this event, Bob @ Reyna put on a great festival.they also do the pinellas pepper fest. They are both a sizzlin hot time. The I Like it HOT! Festival is one of the Largest Spicy Food Fests in Florida. Featuring Hot & Spicy food vendors from all around Florida, this show will have hundreds of Spicy Foods to sample and Purchase! Hot Sauces, BBQ Sauces, Beef Jerky, Pepper Jellies, Spice Rubs, Pepper Plants and much more!! Lot's of competitions will be happening too. Compete in the Amateur Hot Sauce & Salsa Competitions, Test your ability to eat as many Jalapenos as possible in 3 minutes participating in the Pepper Eating Contest. Taste and vote for your favorite Vendor's Hot Concoctions and also Vote for your favorite Vendor. Test out your tongue with Intensity Academy's Spicy Lolly Lick-A-Thon using the Hottest Lolly Pop in the world! Also, If you have the hips for it compete in the Hot Hula Hoop Contest!! It's all about the Pepper here!! Come on down and test your taste buds and have a Spicy good time!!!!

I really enjoy this festival. I have been twice now. It is a lot of fun if you enjoy spicy food…read more There are even quite a few items to try for those that do not like it spicy. The event only costs $5 to get in. Parking is free. I typically spend around 2 hours here. You could spend more or less depending on how you experience the festival. Once you are in, you get to walk around and sample a lot of amazing hot sauce, peppers, pepper jelly's, dips, seasonings, jerky and more. Water is cheap ($1) and you can also buy milk, soda or beer. I recommend grabbing a bottle of water before starting. You will be happy to have it after a few spicy booths. There are typically contests like the spicy lollipop lick a thon. You can normally find details on the Facebook event page. They also have blind judging that everyone can take place in. Be forewarned, some of the items will be extremely hot. Outside, there are a few food vendors, a band and various other things to do. It really is all about the saucy vendors inside though. Make sure you visit Intensity Academy and pick up a few local favorites like the Chai Chup (Ketchup) and Honey Hype. I recommend this event and I will definitely be back again next year!

Absolutely one of the worst crab cakes I ever had. Seriously $20 for mush. Save yourself the entry…read morefee snd go to a local place for good food. i've been to county fairs that have better.

Hands down, the best local event I have been to in a while. The quality of vendors, in addition to…read moretheir pricing, was fantastic. True value for your money, specially if you took advantage of the VIP Mermaid tickets! I got to try samples from 6 different Florida distilleries, all which had at least 3-4 different samples to offer (some had many more) in addition to 1 (or 2!) full cocktails -- all included with your VIP ticket. Definitely snatching these next year again. Best yet? THE VENUE! I have been to too many local events that took place in locations not appropriate to fit the amount of patrons that attended. All the green spaces used for the event by the St Pete pier offered the right amount of space for everyone to spread out and enjoy the delicacies with fantastic views. 10/10!

We had a nice time walking around the market and downtown area. It would of been helpful to have…read moremore signage for the location of the art murals and such. We did use the interactive map, but signs would of helped. The downtown market had a good amount of different booths. It would be nice as a local due to the amount of fresh produce.

Love downtown Dunedin but they just added metered parking $1.50 per hour with a 3 hour limit. I…read moredon't mind the fee but after shopping I had to rush through my lunch to get back to the meter. The meter put a time limit on what was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon.

Loved the Art and seafood festival on the waterfront. It was free to get in. The seafood options…read morewere great, Got Lobster lobster rolls are amazing, Frenchy's crab fries are to die for, Clearsky' grouper nuggets are so yummy, Groovy Dawgs gator dogs can't be missed, there was so much to try. Sherry's Crab Cakes... their crab Mac and cheese is awesome! Okay I didn't eat all this by myself we all shared. Love the Honeycomb ice cream and hoppers mini donuts. You could eat until you bust! The different tents with all the art was quite a sight to be hold. Such Talent. I will admit I came home with a couple of pieces. Fabulous work some out of my price range and some affordable. They had a band playing and people were enjoying themselves. Pets were welcome. There was a children's area with art and games, there was a Huge VIP tent with comfortable furniture in there. ( it cost extra for VIP) The breeze off the water was great. It was a pretty good crowd people were happy it was great weather. There was Beer and Wine for sale. I noticed a a good amount of police on-site as well as medical so it felt secure.

Great day near the water. The art booths were great and I bought a few wonderful items, but the…read morefood didn't have a lot of seafood for a "seafood" festival. And those that did offer it were only offering expensive options. Don't get me wrong I'll spend good money on good food but for the prices I'll walk to the local places and have a table and service for the same cost.

This music festival was FANTASTIC! The bands were great, there was a wonderful breeze blowing, all…read morethe beer was local craft beer, the stages were near each other and the scheduling made it such that you could catch some of every band's set if you wanted to. The tickets are very reasonably priced. The beer, food, and water was SO well-priced! I was in shock. We had planned to bring our own snacks and drinks but when we realized a craft beer was like $6 and a water $2 we decided to lighten our load and just bring chairs and sunscreen. This festival is a fundraiser for the non-profit Safety Harbor Art & Music Center (SHAMc). 2017 was my first year going and it was so awesome that I really regret not going in the past! My priority band was The Wood Brothers. I was thrilled with Magic Giant and Birds of Chicago and really enjoyed Charlie Mars, Fantastic Negrito, The Mulligan Brothers, Rising Appalachia, and the Caravan of Thieves members who were there. The singer-songwriters (solo artists) all had great voices and lyrics and were really talented. I can't wait for next year! I love discovering new-to-me bands and I hope to see Magic Giant again soon. This band got down into the crowd, had the security barriers removed, and was singing and playing instruments surrounded by all of us. There were little kids, elderly couples, and everyone in between. Really a cool experience and a great way to close out the festival. In addition to great bands, there were chalk artists, a bus mural, circus performers, a kite flying club, and people making giant bubbles. Someone was also selling those inflatable bag things to sit/lay on. They're harder than they look to inflate. This isn't a festival where you can camp, so it isn't plagued by many of the usual festival problems. For one, the restrooms stay usable. Drug use is discrete and mild...you won't have to explain to one of your kids why a woman is convulsing in the middle of a field. You can also come and go during the festival and walk to downtown SH for food if nothing on-site sounds good. Final impression: I hope to never again miss this music festival in paradise.

Great spot, right on Old Tampa Bay. Great food trucks, craft beer and outrageous music. Listening…read moreto Ben Taylor and Sophie Hiller right now. Think I've died and gone to heaven. More, much more tomorrow Sunday the 6th

sad no blues played and they have blues performers who play in Dunedin. I know I will not be…read moreattending again

Definitely a great festival to go to. It definitely showcases downtown Dunedin in the best way…read morepossible. There are tons of vendors food, drink, arts, and crafts galore! Everything is local! There is music playing all throughout Main St. This is truly a blast!!!! Definitely a must check out Festival held in November! There's a good amount of food and drinks spaced out everywhere so this is definitely the only place you need to be!!! I love love love Downtown Dunedin!!!!

Nice vibes as always.... Lots to do Only thing is the…read morebathrooms not working or enough of them.

I have had the Dunedin Mardi Gras Festival and Parade on my To-do list for a while, but it is on a…read moreTuesday, and an hour away from our house. This Year, my hubby and I took the day off. Yes, specifically for it. Why not? Bonus, we met up with friends and hung out with them, and had a good time. They have different craft vendors, beer and food, Mardi Gras masks and beads. They are all located down Main street. They have 4 band stages throughout Main street as well as John Pioneer Park in the middle of everything. Admission is free, but they have VIP which includes two drinks, appetizers, desserts, and special spots for the parade. Parade was suppose to be at 7:30, but ended up starting around almost 8pm. It lasted like about a half hour to an hour. It was cool in some parts, loud in other parts, and a lull in some parts. The best part was the hot law enforcement and firefights manning the streets. It was a fun festive experience that I am happy we checked off our list!!! If you want a post party afterwards, they have that at the surrounding bars and Club Blur! There is definitely something for everyone.

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.

The biggest challenge of this event is parking. We had handicapped parking and were able to get a…read moreparking space somewhat closer to the action, but if you're on crutches it can be difficult. I Imagine its jarder for thin wheeled wheel chairs. One of our friends was competing in the games so we came to support him (Go Bill, Go!) and see a deer friend, beneath the branches of the stately oaks. There were rows of vendors, some eats too, but the lines for that were absolutely silly. Needless to say we did t eat there. We watched the caber Toss and another game too, before getting tired and heading home. The games are fun, you should totally visit the games when theyre on?

Wasn't sure what to expect . Loved seeing so many men in kilts . The day was beautiful . The best…read morepart was the Scottish games and the barbecue was soooo amazing ! I feel like they need more venders. The music was wonderful , the area was great . We did have to park a good distance away, but the weather was perfect so didn't mind the walk . We will definitely be going next year.