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Sponge Docks Group Plans Labor Day Festival

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: August 29, 2008

Updated:

TARPON SPRINGS - Sponge Docks merchants hope a Labor Day Weekend arts and crafts festival will rejuvenate business in the city's riverfront tourist district.

This summer the sluggish economy has hit merchants at the Sponge Docks particularly hard, with some businesses being down by as much as 60 percent.

Merchants hope a Labor Day weekend festival, next Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 30 and 31, will attract hundreds of tourists to the Sponge Docks and remind them about all the quaint shops and restaurants to be found along Dodecanese Boulevard and Athens Street.

Terri Rudzitis, a promoter with Inverness-based T-N-T Events, said a similar event last April proved popular and successful.

The Labor Day weekend event starts at 10 a.m. each day and runs Saturday until 5 p.m. and Sunday until 4 p.m.

Rudzitis said from 50 to 60 artists will bring a wide variety of artisans to the main street of the Sponge Docks, Dodecanese Boulevard, which will be closed to motor vehicle traffic.

Some popular vendors are scheduled to return to the city for this event, such as a craftsman who creates bird baths, another artist who works with solar lights, potters and jewelry makers, glass and wood workers, florists, sellers of gourmet foods.

There is plenty of parking at the city's Live Oak Street parking area, within a short walking distance, she said.

TNT plans similar shows at the Sponge Docks on the weekend of Nov. 1 and Jan. 17, as well as a crafts show in Palm Harbor on March 21.

In the city's antique district, the Tarpon Springs Business Alliance will present the Downtown Tarpon Arts and Crafts Street Fair, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in the parking area at Pinellas and Tarpon avenues and on Court Street. This event is presented by the Crafts and Artisans Society.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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