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ynn Bonsall thinks taking her kids to festivals is a great way to show them different places. “I like anything that is family oriented. I try to make memo-ries,” says the Navarre, Florida resident.

Given the variety of festivals that take place year-round in Florida, find-ing memory-making events that feature history, music, food, arts and crafts and more is easy, and October is a particularly busy time for festival-goers. As the weather cools down, the activity heats up, and visitors by the thou-sands flock to celebrations for everything from crustaceans to football.

Fall forFlorida fall events lure festive spirits and visitor dollarsFlorida

By Pamela Watson

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110 spirit OctOber 2011

Dueling for DollarsFor local planners, festivals represent both a celebration and an economic impact for the community. Large cities and rural communities welcome visitors and their dollars to participate in local celebrations. Places like tiny Mexico Beach near Pana-ma City have seen an increase in visitors to festivals like their annual Gumbo Cook-off and the Aloha Festival, and can cite a direct correlation to new businesses that have opened this year.

The City of Jacksonville hosts a num-ber of events throughout the year, but in October, football fever takes over with the Georgia versus Florida Football Classic (held this year on October 29). University of Georgia Bulldog fans share the city and tailgate space with University of Florida Gators as the teams collide for what ESPN calls one of the top 10 college football rivalries. But no matter who wins each year, Jacksonville scores big with about $11.7 million in direct visitor spending and a total economic impact of $20.8 million as football fans enjoy local restaurants, lodging and shopping venues.

On the western side of the state, Pen-sacola is busily hosting events that, this year, include Civil War 150th Anniversary

commemorations. October 8 is the Battle of Santa Rosa Island Commemoration at Fort Pickens. Visitors can tour antebellum homes and the oldest church in Florida along with the massive brick fortresses that were held by both Union and Confed-erate troops. According to the Pensacola Convention and Visitors Bureau, the area hosts around 3.5 million overnight visitors a year, and the economic impact is around $1.2 billion. With school in session and the beaches quiet, fall festivals are an impor-tant way to bring in visitors year-round.

On the whole, tourism is an important economic factor for the state, attract-ing visitors as well as new residents and businesses. The Walton County Tourism Development Council (Visit South Wal-ton) estimates the county hosts around 2 million visitors a year and events are an important draw. For 2-day events that attract 1,000 people, the direct economic impact is in the $1 million to $1.5 million range. For a 4-day event attracting 4,000 people, the direct economic impact is between $3 million to $4 million. Further-more, some of Walton County’s largest employers are resorts and rental man-agement companies, with the hospitality industry leading the labor force at 23.4%.

Football fever takes over

Jacksonville with the Georgia versus Florida

Football Classic on

October 29th.

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112 spirit OctOber 2011

Matching it upVISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official tour-ism marketing corporation, estimates that 82.3 million people visited Florida in 2010, generating $62.7 billion in taxable sales. In addition to marketing to consumers, both in the U.S. and abroad, this not-for-profit corporation offers numerous programs to help the state’s many tourism businesses and destinations market themselves more effectively and affordably, which in turn helps create a warm business climate, both in the tourism sector and in other areas.

One Chicago-based company that was attracted to Florida’s business climate, is a company that thrives on attraction. Selective Search is a top-level boutique matchmaking service designed for busy executives who want to match up for life. With over 95,000 clients, the company incorporates an innovative approach to finding long-lasting relationships, using the same best-practices vetting process for mate hunting that executive search com-panies use for job hunting. With an 88% success rate, they are the only professional

‘Personal Recruiter®’ in the industry. Selec-tive Search has offices in Miami, Fort Lau-derdale, Palm Beach, Naples, Tampa and 34 other locations worldwide.

Also with worldwide locations and another business matchup in the tour-ism sector is the British company LEGO-LAND®, presented by Merlin Entertain-ments. Opening in Winter Haven October 15, LEGOLAND® Florida is a 150-acre theme park for children aged 2 to 12, and for kids of all ages who love this classic brick building-block toy. Located on the former site of Cypress Gardens, LEGO-LAND’s master plan includes a restoration of the iconic gardens along with more than 50 family focused rides, shows and attrac-tions. Ten fun zones let little ones imagine, create, learn and pretend with pirates and princesses, building robots, learning how LEGOs are made and going on a LEGO wild animal safari.

Another matchup for Florida is food and a wide variety of restaurants in the state provide something for everyone’s taste. im

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Legoland opening in

Winter Haven, Fl October 15th

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The highly successful restaurant group Talk of the Town has been serving up steaks and seafood from Orlando to St. Petersburg for over 35 years. Founded by the father and son team of Charley and Ron Woodsby, the company has grown to 11 award- winning steak and seafood houses that include Charley’s Steak-house, FishBones, MoonFish, Johnnie’s Hideaway, Vito’s Chop House and Texas Cattle Company. Their catering division, Taste of the Town, features their famous Texas Cattle Company steaks for private events, with all meals cooked on site over a wood fire.

From turf to surf, Frenchy’s in Clear-water is another long-time Florida favorite. Owner and founder Michael “Frenchy” Preston opened the Origi-nal Café in 1981 with a mission to serve the best and freshest seafood possible on the beach. He soon found that to be really fresh, he had to catch his own, so he bought his first boat and Frenchy’s Stone Crab Company was born. Today, Frenchy’s has four restaurants serving up his fresh fish in Clearwater, the Original Café, Saltwater Café, Rockaway Grill and

South Beach Café. In addition to supply-ing the restaurants, Frenchy’s Stone Crab Company sells fresh seafood to the pub-lic and sponsors Frenchy’s annual Stone Crab Weekend.

Restaurants matching up with festi-vals and events isn’t a new idea, but the philanthropic side of Hard Rock is some-times overlooked. Since 1971, the mission of this restaurant/hotel/casino/entertain-ment giant has been to “do well by doing good” both locally and globally, and to help raise awareness and necessary fund-ing for specific philanthropic programs and causes. For 12 years, Hard Rock has teamed up with celebrities, survivors and guests to promote its worldwide Pink-tober™ campaign to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. Pink-tober gives guests a variety of ways to “rock pink,” including limited-edition merchandise and apparel; PINK-licious drink and menu offerings; dedicated PINK hotel rooms; and star-studded, live music events benefiting national and local breast cancer charities across the globe to support the fight against breast cancer.

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Frenchy’s Stone Crab Company

sells fresh seafood to the public and sponsors Frenchy’s annual Stone Crab

Weekend.

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to Panama Citytyt

fromg r e e t i n g s

Just half an hour past Panama City, the pace settles back into your comfort zone. You’ve reached Mexico Beach,

the secluded seaside village that’s kept generations of families coming back for our sugar-white beaches,

waterfront restaurants, charming shops, spectacular fi shing and affordable rentals.

To plan your escape to paradise—refreshingly free of high-rise condos and crowds at every turn—

call 888-723-2546. Or fi nd things to do, lodging specials and our live beach cam at www.mexico-beach.com

Gulf of Mexico

Port St. Joe

Crooked Island

Cape San Blas

Mexico Beach

WindMark Beach

will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a huge block party featuring live music, food and drink specials in front of the Original Café at 41 Baymont Street. Then October 21 – 23, the 27th Annual Stone Crab Weekend will kick off stone crab sea-son at all four restaurant locations. Fresh Florida stone crab claws will be availableat wholesale prices, but only while supplies last. Party tents will be set up at Rockaway Grill at 7 Rockaway Street and at Saltwater Café, 419 Poinsettia Avenue.

What goes great with stone crab claws? Perhaps a glass of wine, which is another popular festival theme. Pensacola Beach will host the 4th Annual Art and Wine Weekend October 1–2 with wine tastings and exhibits of local art presented all over the island.

Mexico Beach also offers visitors the chance to view art and sip wine at the 13th Annual Mexico Beach Art & Wine Festi-val October 15. Once again the venue is the Driftwood Inn and fine wines, culinary

october art anD fooD festsThe Florida fall festival season begins in September, and by October is in full swing with celebrations of food, wine, music and art. There are seafood festivals in Destin, Niceville, Madeira Beach, Cedar Key and Hernando Beach, and chili cook-offs in Deland, Ocala, Belleview and Homosassa. There is a festival celebrating nature in South Walton, a Mardi Gras-type fantasy celebration in Key West and a pumpkin festival in Sarasota; in short, something for everyone.

October 15 marks the beginning of stone crab season, which runs until May 15. Festivals in Naples, St. Marks, Sum-merland and Longboat Key celebrate this tasty crustacean whose claw is the main feature and a popular delicacy in restau-rants and seafood markets across the state.

Each year Frenchy’s in Clearwater cel-ebrates the beginning of the season with Stone Crab Weekend, but this year the popular restaurant group hosts a double celebration. On October 7 & 8, Frenchy’s

treats, live and silent auctions, musi-cal entertainment and art exhibits by both local and national artists will be featured.

Also in Northwest Florida is Taste of the Beach:Wine, Dine, Donate—the region’s premier wine and food extrav-aganza. This four-day culinary and cultural celebration takes place the first week of November, but preparations and related activities begin in August. Some of the main events include Taste of the Harbor in Destin, Al Fresco Reserve Tasting in Ruskin Place and Seeing Red Wine Festival in Seaside, UnWineD at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, After Dark at Sandestin and Taste of The Beach & Charity Auction at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. TOTB is a collaboration between the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce and Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (DCWAF).

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with a world of epic locations, you definitely

know where to go.

If you haven’t been lately, you haven’t been at all. From the amped-up Cafe menu

that brings back those big American burgers that first made us famous to the

sleek new hotels and casinos that bring you all the perks of backstage to the

world’s most mind-boggling memorabilia collection – Hard Rock has something for

the rocker in everyone. So live large in Boston, tear it up in Hollywood or make it happen in Chicago. With 173 locations

worldwide, we’re always there to keep the fun cranked to 11.

hardrock.com hardrockhotels.com

© 2011 Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc.

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Text city name to HRDRCKfor nearest location & info.

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We go from films to music as the DeLuna Fest outdoor music festival kicks off October 14–16 on Pensacola Beach. Billed as ‘America’s Original Beach Party,’ DeLuna Fest 2011 features a lineup of over 75 artists including the multiplatinum Grammy winners Linkin Park along with the Sounds, Girl Talk and Diplo. Tickets are $215 at the gate for the three days.

In nearby South Walton, the signa-ture fall event, Autumn Tides, is a col-lection of culinary, cultural, artistic and eco-tourism celebrations that includes Taste of the Beach and the Baytowne Wharf Beer Festival. It also includes the Back to Nature Festival which show-cases the area’s natural beauty and resources. Sponsored by the South Wal-ton Community Council, the festival runs October 14–16 and features nature walks, kayak and canoe tours of rare coastal dune lakes, beach walks and a trail bike tour.

Proceeds from Taste of The Beach ben-efit area children’s charities.

For the fourth year, the Baytowne Wharf Beer Festival at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort has drawn brew afi-cionados to taste and learn about beer. On October 21–22, over 100 domes-tic and international craft beers from around the country will be tapped and poured for sampling, and brewery rep-resentatives will be on hand to answer questions and suggest food pairings.

october fun festsThe Jacksonville Film Festival runs October 13–16 and features film screen-ings and short film debuts from up-and-coming independent producers. In the early 1900s, Jacksonville was a major film production location, with more than 27 film studios cranking out silent movies. Today the Jacksonville Film Festival works to provide pro-grams, entertainment and educational opportunities that enrich the arts and culture of the area.

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TasTe of The BeachNovember 4-6, 2011

fri Nov 4 / 6-8p Al Fresco Reserve Wine Tasting - Ruskin Park Seaside

fri Nov 4 / 6-10p UNwineD at Pier Park

sat Nov 5 / 1-5p Seeing Red Wine Festival Seaside

sat Nov 5 / 6-10p UnWineD at Pier Park

sat Nov 5 / 7-10p After Dark at Sandestin

sat Nov 5 / 6p Seagar’s Progressive Vintner Dinner, Hilton

sun Nov 6 / 3-6p Wine Walkabout and Charity Auction, Hilton Sandestin

www.tasteofthebeachfl.com

oct 1-24th Annual Art & Wine

Weekend —Pensacola Beach

oct 7-8 Frenchy’s 30th Anniversary

Block Party —place??

oct 13-16Jacksonville Film Festival

oct 14-16DeLuna Fest outdoor

music festvial —Pensacola

oct 14-16Autumn Tides

—South Waldon Beaches

oct 15Grand Opening of Legoland

oct 15The Annual Mexico Beach

Art & Wine Festial

oct 21-2327th Annual Stone Crab Weekend at all 4 Frenchy

restaurant locations

oct 21-22Baytowne Wharf

Beer Festival

oct 14-30Historical Haunted House

Walking Tours—Weekends at Pensacola

october“Halloween Meets the Sea”—Seaworld’s month long

family fun fest

November 4-6Taste of the Beach

Finally, what’s October without some spooks and haunted houses? Pensacola’s annual Historic Haunted House Walking Tours are Friday and Saturday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the last three weekends of the month, beginning October 14. The tours are led by costumed guides who tell tales of Pensacola’s more unusual and scary past.

For a “spooktacular” time in Central Florida, SeaWorld’s month-long fam-ily-fun fest is where “Halloween meets the sea.” Each weekend in October from noon until 8 p.m., special Halloween events like a trick or treat treasure hunt, Sesame Street’s Count-down to Halloween live musical stage show, arts and crafts and kid-centered activities with a hint of spookiness entertain kids of all ages. Visitors are encouraged to wear Halloween cos-tumes and join SeaWorld’s whimsi-cal sea creatures Penelope Pumpkin fish, Shamu and Dolly Dolphin as they dance and sing throughout the park.

banking on festivalsAs businesses, civic organizations and tourism groups across Florida work to increase their fall tourism numbers, they actively seek visitors by promot-ing fall festivals and events. Although locals bring their dollars and spirit of fun for a day, travelers usually stay sev-eral days in hotels and resorts, eat in local restaurants, and shop for local crafts and souvenirs, adding to the overall economic impact. According to the Center for Tourism Research and Development at the University of Flori-da, tourism is the world’s fastest- grow-ing industry, supporting one in 12 jobs worldwide—about 1 million of them in Florida alone—and generating more than $6 trillion annually. In short, tourism is good for business.

As for the visitors themselves, the idea of an activity that features, food, music, historical events and reenact-ments or simply family fun is appeal-ing and a great way to add to the travel experience. Just ask Lynn Bonsall when you see her at the next Florida festival.

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