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The Florida Strawberry Festival’s Moonlight Magic event keeps the party going at the Midway area of the festival grounds past typical hours of operation. This year’s event ran from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. March 10.
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In a community-powered effort, Cabot Creamery hosted an attempt to make the world’s largest strawberry smoothie and pulled it off on March 3.
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Many Plant City residents gathered at the bleachers of the William Schneider Memorial Stadium on March 20 to say goodbye to the seating section they’d used for many years.
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The ag shows at the Florida Strawberry Festival are serious business, but everyone likes to let loose for the animals’ costume contests. Local FFA and 4-H members participate every year.
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On March 6, the Florida Strawberry Festival’s Grand Parade — the granddaddy of all Plant City parades — rolled through town. This year’s grand marshals were the Bellamy Brothers, Howard and David.
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The J. Seward Johnson Sculpture Exhibit, which places realistic, life-sized statues of people around Plant City’s downtown area, returned March 1. This year’s crop of 10 statues stayed in town until June 1.
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To promote bicycle safety during Florida Bike Month, Mayor Rick Lott invited the Plant City community to go on a three-mile ride with him in the March 22 Bike with the Mayor event.
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The Wallenda family, famous for its acrobatic acts, brought its Circus Incredible show to the Florida Strawberry Festival and performed three times each day.
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Country music legend Willie Nelson made Florida Strawberry Festival history on March 3. Before Nelson’s performance, no afternoon show at the festival had ever sold out of tickets. His show was also the first of 2017 to sell out.
It wouldn’t be March in Plant City without the Florida Strawberry Festival.
The 82nd edition of the festival ran from March 2-12 and drew tens of thousands of visitors to the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. There was family-friendly entertainment, record-breaking food, parades, ag shows, contests and more — something for everyone. Outside the festival grounds, the city brought back the famous J. Seward Johnson scupltures, rode bikes with Mayor Rick Lott, committed millions of dollars to road improvements and said an unexpected goodbye to longtime local favorite Norma’s Ybor City Cuban Sandwich Shop.
