Every year, for the past three decades, the Lutz Arts & Crafts Festival has attracted thousands to this community north of Tampa.
The event, Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 at Lake Park, 17302 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Lutz, features nearly 250 vendors offering paintings, photography, jewelry, woodcarving, ceramics, pottery, stained glass, quilts and food.
The event, co-sponsored by the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, is free after a $2 per vehicle parking charge.
The art show is juried, with cash prizes awarded by the Woman’s Club.
A variety of foods will be available, with the Woman’s Club booth offering breakfast items, hot dogs and the club’s peach cobbler. Other food booths will offer barbecue, Cuban selections sausages, funnel cakes and other items.
The event gives shoppers a chance to peruse booths to find holiday gifts and décor. It also raises money for the Woman’s Club, which uses the proceeds to support many local organizations, said Phyllis Hoedt, co-chairwoman of the festival.
It’s a popular event, attracting as many as 30,000 visitors.
The show enjoys a good reputation, and vendor booths sell out shortly after applications become available each March, Hoedt said. Many of the event’s vendors come from other states to set up their tents at the festival.
Pulling off the annual event requires an army of volunteers, Hoedt said. The Civil Air Patrol, the Boy Scouts and the Woman’s Club itself provide dozens of helpers, and community volunteers pitch in, too.
For additional information, call Hoedt at (813) 949-1937, or her co-chairwoman, Shirley Simmons at (813) 949-7060.
