The Festival City celebrates the local blueberry industry in it's annual event with local farms, crafters, music and a fun tour to a U pick blueberry farm.
Blueberry Festival 2018
MOUNT DORA, Fla. - April 12, 2018 -- The 4th annual festival will highlight local blueberry farms with everything blueberry in waterfront Elizabeth Evans Park on Saturday April 28 & Sunday April 29, 2018.
Nearly 100 vendors will sell their crafts in "blue/blueberry" themed booths interspersed with food vendors offering specialty treats like chocolate covered blueberries on a stick, hot dogs with blueberry salsa and blueberry with cream cheese empanandas. Blueberry pie can be purchased whole or by the slice and local blueberry farms will sell berries by the cup or by the flat fresh picked directly from their farms.
Due to an unusually long winter and earlier event dates two years ago, blueberries were still green and the event ran out of fresh blueberries.
Nearly 100 vendors will sell their crafts in "blue/blueberry" themed booths interspersed with food vendors offering specialty treats like chocolate covered blueberries on a stick, hot dogs with blueberry salsa and blueberry with cream cheese empanandas. Blueberry pie can be purchased whole or by the slice and local blueberry farms will sell berries by the cup or by the flat fresh picked directly from their farms.
Due to an unusually long winter and earlier event dates two years ago, blueberries were still green and the event ran out of fresh blueberries.
Event Coordinator Janet Gamache says "We are celebrating LOCAL blueberry farms so instead of filling the event with imported berries, we worked with the local farms to adjust the festival dates to allow the berries a better chance to ripen."
Changing the date has proven to be a successful decision. Gamache says, "There are so many blueberries ready to be picked that we have organized a U Pick tour where visitors can go directly to support a local farm and enhance their festival experience by picking their own berries."
This year the "Blueberry Bonanza Tour" will be offered as a partnership between The Fun Bus, Royal Palm Railway Experience and Promise Farms. Guests will meet at Mount Dora Plaza and get on board The Fun Bus for an entertaining, guided tour to Promise Farms where they can U pick fresh blueberries for one hour and then return to hop the train directly to the festival. Tickets for the tour are limited and cost $20 at www.MountDoraEvents.com
Music will be performed by Acoustic Flair, Alan Darcy on Saxophone, Mark Z and Nicole Equerme and escape artist David Ferman will wow the crowd with his "Jaws of Death" contraption throughout the weekend.
On Saturday morning a blueberry pancake breakfast that includes OJ, coffee and turkey sausage will be sponsored by IHOP for $7/Children under 7 $4.50 Tickets should be purchased in advance at www.MountDoraEvents.com. Th
Bring your kids, spouses, friends and cameras to sign up for the Pie Eating contests at 2pm on both Saturday and Sunday for children up to 9yrs old and 10 and up divisions. Register at the INFO booth before 1pm. There is NO entry fee to participate.
There will be face painting, a free bounce house and games for the kids.
For adults there will be blueberry beer and blueberry wine tasting offered by Island Grove Winery.
Avoid parking congestion downtown. Park for free at Mount Dora Plaza 2700 Old Hwy 441 and take the $5 train shuttle ride directly to the event.
The event runs 9am to 5pm both days and is FREE to attend. See the promo video at HERE
This event is sponsored by Visit Mount Dora, Festivals of Florida and Lake County Tourism. www.
