Bartow Art Guild

The staff is absolutely wonderful and makes the experience so much better! We were there for a benefit for a Bartow legend, "Lonestar" James Camp.

This year was the 50th anniversary of the Bloomin' Arts Festival. The shows name comes from the colorful azaIeas blooming throughout town. There are flowers that top all of the street signs adding to the blooming theme. I always wanted to explore Bartow and the festival gave me the perfect reason to finally come to town to check historic Bartow out.

The festival is held the first weekend of March every year. Main Street is shut down and tents are set up along the street. The Bloomin' Arts Festival is staged by the Bartow Art Guild and run by volunteers. The show is juried and they offer awards totaling $12,000. It attracts artists from all over the country.

Surrounding the festival is free attractions including an antique car show, Bloomin' Bike Ride, flower show, a quilt show at the free history museum located in the historic courthouse, student art show, kids art/face painting tent, Sunday afternoon Free Concert, and food trucks. Parking is free.

It was drizzling while I visited the show but a little rain couldn't ruin the fun. The DJ had a sense of humor as he played every song you could think of that mentioned rain in it's lyrics. I enjoyed browsing the many tents filled with paintings, glass, sculpture, jewelry, leather, mixed media, photography, wood, ceramics, fiber, and fine crafts. I also visited the museum and enjoyed shopping at the many cute and unique shops, many of which were offering specials sales to coincide with the show. There are so many great places to eat in addition to the food trucks.

A tip I learned from visiting the festival is that they set up port a potties on the street but you can use the nearby and much more pleasant restrooms at the history museum. I loved my visit to this festival and Bartow has some beautiful architecture. I adore Old Florida towns. If you missed the art festival they stage an annual sidewalk chalk festival in October.

Cool gallery warm people!

A great group of people making beautiful art.

Nice place to visit.

Muy alegré y colorido esta muy bueno