VERO BEACH — Thousands of people flocked to Downtown Vero Beach, gathering along 14th Avenue and a spur of 21st Street to take in the sun, the sounds and the activities of the 10th annual Hibiscus Festival.
“We’re just running all over the place,” said Tara Metzger, referring to her 16-month-old daughter, Lily, who didn’t want to sit still to talk about the festival.
“It’s good to come out here and have fun,” she said of the family-friendly event.
Their arrival gave Lily’s dad, J. Adam Metzger, a reason to take a break from his company’s booth – Florida Spine Group.
He said his company has been a longtime support of the Hibiscus Festival.
“We like to be present in the community,” Metzger said, adding that this time of year, he’s seeing more locals stop by his booth.
The festival was a side trip for a Fort Pierce seasonal resident who summers in Nebraska.
“We were on our way to tennis,” Sharon Car said of how she and her companion came to be at the festival, later adding, “I’m a sucker for an art show.”
Car had picked up a couple cookbooks from one of the booths and was perusing the artwork before heading out for her tennis game.
“We’re always looking for something to do,” she said.
Along with booth browsing, festival goers were treated to numerous musical acts of a wide variety throughout the streets. They were also tempted by the festival food, including traditional treats of cotton candy and funnel cakes and the not-so-traditional Hungarian Cinnamon Horn Rolls, gyros, organic vegan dishes, and shrimp cakes and crawfish plates.
Rounding out the entertainment roster was the annual Shopping Cart Parade to benefit the Harvest Food and Outreach Center. Businesses and organizations from the area sponsored and decorated shopping carts, filling them with non-perishable foodstuffs and marching them down 14th Avenue to the Main Stage.
Among those participating was Longevity Ladies Fitness and Spa, which stood out for all its pink glory.
“Ladies like pink,” said Longevity event coordinator Becky Ryan, explaining the concept behind the very pink cart topped with pink balloons. It was the fifth year for the business to participate in the parade.
“The ladies like to contribute,” Ryan said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Sandy Fontana was the mastermind behind the first place winner’s cart – Marine (Food) Bank and Trust. Her bank’s team decorated the cart so much that only the wheels were visible.
Fontana said she wanted to incorporate the idea of a food bank into a traditional bank. The cart took a team of employees from Marine Bank and Trust three days to put together and still Fontana was tweaking it prior to the parade’s start.
They used photocopied images of packaged foods as the building bricks for the cart and they lined the bottom of the cart with hibiscus flowers – paying homage to the festival.
“It’s a great community event,” said Marine Bank and Trust President Bill Penney. “It’s just a lot of fun.”
