You know spring is just around the corner when the 34^th Annual Floral City Strawberry Festival comes to town! 

March 6-7 2021 is when you should come out to Floral Park, 9530 S. Parkside Avenue, in Floral City, Florida. Visit one of the prettiest parks on Florida’s Nature Coast for fun (and strawberries), food (and strawberries), entertainment (and strawberries), Prince and Princess Pageants, and Pie-Eating Contests (and strawberries), arts (and strawberries), crafts (and strawberries), kids’ activities galore, and you guessed it! STRAWBERRIES! 

This annual event is a salute to local agriculture with fresh strawberries hand-picked right around the corner from the festival at Ferris Groves. 

Enjoy luscious strawberry shortcake prepared by the Citrus County Agricultural Alliance and the Cattlemen’s Association which will be available for your noshing pleasure, along with flats and half-flats of whole fresh berries that you can take home with you as a sweet souvenir of your day. Then use them to make your own delectable treats.

Not sure what to do with all those strawberries? Check out the Berry Bakery recipes here.

Creating a Safe, Fun Strawberry Festival in Floral City’s Floral Park

The Floral City Strawberry Festival, and the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce, will be implementing and practicing safety precautions to ensure the health of our attendees, volunteers, vendors, and staff.

We encourage festival-goers to stay home if they are vulnerable or feeling ill. We encourage all attendees to practice social distancing, wash hands regularly, utilize the on-site sanitation stations and wear a mask if social distancing is not possible.

Live Entertainment runs throughout the Strawberry Festival

Saturday will kick off with music from crowd favorite, Southern Express Band from 10 A.M. – 1 P.M., followed by headliner Xhale from 2 P.M. – 5 P.M. Sundays lineup includes John Johnson from 10 A.M. – 12 P.M. with Sunday’s headliner SOUTHBOUND closing out this year’s festival from 1 P.M. – 4 P.M.

Strawberry Prince and Princess Pageants Saturday

Sticking to its very berry American roots, the Strawberry Princess pageants will be back, with the addition of the new Strawberry Prince Pageants! Ooh and ahh on Saturday morning as poised young ladies and gents take the stage in their favorite strawberry-themed attire for a chance to earn a crown and become the next Strawberry Princes & Princesses.

Strawberry Pie Eating Contests

Or maybe getting messy is more your style?  Then sign up to compete in the strawberry pie-eating contests for a chance to win some cold, hard gift cards! Competitions will be held both Saturday and Sunday.

To ensure the safety of all pie-eating contest participants and volunteers, the Chamber will be implementing some new precautions this year. All participants will be seated at a safe distance apart and strawberry pies will be prepared and served by screened volunteers wearing mask and gloves.

Once seated, participants are asked to stay in place while they are served and through the duration of the contest. All chairs and table placement will be sanitized and disinfected between each contest/age group.

Music, Jokes, Tiny Trucks & More…

Back again this year is Pickin’ & Grinnin’! These two farmers are **outstanding in their field** presenting a mix of toe-tappin’ barn-dance music and knee-slappin’ farm jokes. It’s family-friendly farm fun for everyone!

Another new addition this year is Tiny the Tanker! With 27 years in family entertainment, Tiny the Tanker is a tiny electric fire truck with a personality all his own. His sweet childlike voice melts the hearts of both young and old as he roves slowly throughout events greeting and engaging guests along the way.  Whether he is singing happy birthday, giving directions, playing fun music or reminding guests to wash their hands Tiny always gets a big smile or kind wave in return.

Arts & Crafts Festival Vendors, Beer & Wine Garden, Food Vendors & Kids Patch

Round your festival adventures out by strolling the park and browsing close to 200 art and craft vendors, indulging in a cold beer or glass of wine at the beer garden near the main stage, enjoying the gastronomic pleasures offered by the many food vendors, or enjoying laughs and smiles with the young ones as they “play themselves silly” in the kids’ area.

Floral City Strawberry Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.  Entrance fee is $5.00 for guests 13 and older.  Park free at the Citrus County Auditorium and take a shuttle to the Festival location. Floral Park is located at 9530 S. Parkside Ave., Floral City, FL 34426

34th Annual Floral City Strawberry Festival Merchandise Now Available!

For this year, Strawberry Festival merch is available at the Festival or online here. Don’t you love the logos on the tees and hats?

It is Better to leave your Pets at Home for the Festival

While pets are allowed in Floral Park, it is not a good idea to bring a dog to the festival. Busy crowds, loud music and food scraps can make for a not so ideal situation for the family pet. But if you must, please only bring well-behaved leashed dogs and pick up any mess your dog may create.

Transportation and Parking

Parking will be available on-site at Floral Park, or at the Citrus County Auditorium located at 3610 S. Florida Ave, in Inverness.  

Free shuttle buses from the Auditorium are running all day, both days. To get to the correct parking lot at the Auditorium, follow the signs posted on US Hwy 41.

In accordance with the state-mandated requirement of masks on public transportation, all attendees, volunteers, staff, and vendors will be required to wear a mask if they choose to utilize the free shuttles to and from the festival.

A Few Vendor Spaces are Available

As of this writing, there are a few vendor spaces still available for the 2021 Floral City Strawberry Festival. For vendor applications, click here. For more information, please call the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce at (352) 795-3149.

For complete information on the Floral City Strawberry Festival, visit www.GoStrawberryFest.com.  On Facebook, search for “Floral City Strawberry Festival.”

34th Annual Floral City Strawberry Festival at a Glance

When:  Saturday, March 6, 9 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, March 7, 9 am – 4 pm
Where: Floral Park, 9530 S. Parkside Avenue, Floral City.
3 miles south of downtown Floral City on US Hwy 41
Cost: Festival Admission is $5 per adult, children 12 and under are free
Parking: On-site at Floral Park, or at the Citrus County Auditorium located at 3610 S. Florida Ave, Inverness.  Free shuttle buses from the auditorium are running all day, both days. Masks required on shuttles.
Website: www.GoStrawberryFest.com