Well, it’s that time of year again! No, I’m not talking about the upcoming holiday season, I’m talking about Festival Season! The weather is perfect and everyone wants to be outdoors after a long hot humid summer.

In my little corner of the world there are a least two events every weekend. Last week was the Cedar Key Seafood Festival and Jazz Up Dunnellon. Next weekend is the Stone Crab Jam in Crystal River and the Blues & BBQ in Old Homosassa. I could go on and list several more but for me the most important is the 43^rd Annual Homosassa Arts, Crafts, and Seafood Festival right here on the Homosassa Civic Club campus on November 11^th and 12th—always the second weekend of November.

This festival is run entirely by volunteers. (I’m one of them!) Money raised goes towards operating the Homosassa Civic Club and it’s many programs along with substantial donations to community organizations and scholarships to local students.

This year Hurricane Irma caused considerable damage to the entire state of Florida. While Old Homosassa was spared the brunt of the force, numerous trees were knocked over causing our small community to be without power for almost an entire week. When the electricity came back on and the phones were back in service, the committee received many messages asking if the festival was still on.

YES! For the 43^rd year, there will be a Homosassa Arts, Crafts, and Seafood Festival!

The deadline for entry into the Arts and Crafts divisions has been elimiated because many of our artists and crafters were busy cleaning up the storm debris rather than sending in their applications. If you want to be part of this great event the application is available on the Homosassa Arts, Crafts, and Seafood Festival website.

Besides Arts and Crafts, there will be lots of SEAFOOD along with other dining delicacies.

In addition, there are six raffle packages worth from $500 – $600. This is a major fund raiser for many of Homosassa Community groups. For every ticket sold, the group keeps half. The Homosassa River Alliance, the Homosassa River Garden Club, Homosassa Elementary School, Crest School, Dance Dynasty, Purple Heart and the Chassahowitzka River Keepers are just some of the groups that benefit from the raffle!

Gil Watson will be the featured artist and designed the artwork for the tshirt and poster for the third and final year. Because his artwork is so popular with the festival goers, posters from the two previous years are being reprinted along with his new design!

The kid zone will return this year along with entertainment on the stage. The Homosassa Elementary School Chorus opens up the music Saturday morning at 10 am, followed by American SongBox at 11 am and closing with DC Country at 2 pm. On Sunday the Shawline band takes the stage at 1:30 pm.

So mark November 11^th and 12^th on your calendar and head to Old Homosassa for the 43^rd Annual Homosassa Arts, Crafts, and Seafood Festival for a unique and fun weekend.