Guavaween Family FunFest 31 October in Ybor City
Guavaween Family FunFest is Tampa Bay’s Family Halloween Celebration and offers exciting activities for children of all ages! Family FunFest takes place on Saturday, October 31th, 2009 from 10am to 3pm in Ybor City. Admission is $5 per person between 10am and 2pm. Children in costume under 12 years of age are admitted free! Beginning at 10am will be continuous free entertainment on the Mix 100.7 Stage at 7th Avenue & 18th Street and the Daytime Entertainment Stage at 7th Avenue & 15th Street. See performances by local dance groups and area schools and many more! At 10am, the “Cool Zone” area opens and provides a place to relax, try free food samples and see a cooking demo with nationally acclaimed Chef Rich Mead, in the Gourmet for Less Café, and much more. Family FunFest also features Safe Trick-or-Treat, Spooky Story Time, pumpkin giveaway, hands-on activities, appearances by Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders and Captain Fear as well as other area mascots, Safety Education, exhibits and demos by Tampa Bay’s best area attractions, a Pet Costume Contest and the Children’s Costume Parade and Contest at 2:30pm! Guavaween is a Latin-style Halloween celebration held in Tampa’s historic Ybor City. Although Ybor City is more famous for its cigars than its guava, the name is fitting. The story goes something like this: Long ago, Tampa pioneer Gavino Gutierrez tried to cultivate guava commercially here, but was unsuccessful because of the climate and rising land prices. However, a local newspaper columnist was successful in planting the idea that if New York is the “Big Apple,” then it follows that Tampa must be the “Big Guava.” And that’s how it all began. There are parking structures in Ybor City, but you might want to consider other parking in downtown and using the streetcars to get to Ybor City.
