New antiques and arts fair set for downtown Kissimmee

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New antiques and arts fair set for downtown Kissimmee

Around Osceola

Wednesday, 14 April 2010 00:00

By Peter Covino
Entertainment Editor
When the Osceola Art Festival moved from the streets of downtown Kissimmee to the Valencia Community College Osceola Campus two years ago, downtown business owners were not particularly happy.
“After the festival left, there was a big hole,” Jeremy Lanier, manager of Lanier's Antique Marketplace, said. The popular festival brought thousands of people onto the streets of downtown Kissimmee.”
So members of Kissimmee Main Street got together and created an all-new event, one that will emphasize antiques, and include arts and crafts as well.
“We want to create an event that will bring in people not just interested in art, but antiques too,” said Cheryl Fish, executive director of Kissimmee Main Street, the group of downtown businesses organizing the first Downtown Kissimmee Arts, Crafts and Antiques Festival.
The festival is scheduled to be in Toho Square and Pleasant Street, May 1, but Fish is hopeful that there will be enough antique dealers and arts and craft vendors and as well, that the festival will include nearby Darlington Avenue as well.
“Hopefully, the event will get large enough (in the future) that we will have to close Broadway,” she said.
Antique fairs and festivals have worked well in other cities, Lanier said. He has been to popular events in towns such as Mount Dora and Tarpon Springs, so there is no reason why a similar event cannot be successful in Kissimmee, he saud.
While he manages an antique store, having an antique festival is more than just self-serving. It will bring people with a variety of interests downtown, he said.
There does seem to be a lot of interest in having an event of this type downtown, Fish said. The Kowtown Festival, held in March, had barely ended, “and I was getting requests for applications for the fair,” before the forms had even been made, she said.
But applications for antique vendors, artists and crafters are now available online, she said.
Lanier's Antique Marketplace also has been helpful in getting the word out to other dealers that the festival will be taking place in May, she said.
“This is a test right now,” Lanier said, to gauge interest and see what Kissimmee Main Street can do with the event in the future.
For this first event, there will be music, Fish said, but there really isn't money in the budget for live musicians. But if there are any talented musicians in the area, just wanting to play for some exposure, they should contact the Kissimmee Main Street office.
Hopefully, the event will attract lots of people, which, is always helpful to the downtown Kissimmee businesses, Fish said. Shops and restaurants will be open during the 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday event, and some will be open in the evening hours as well, after the event ends.
“We have a nightlife in downtown Kissimmee now,” Fish said, “and hopefully people will want to stay for dinner.”
Antique dealers and artists interested in participating as a vendors can go to www.
KissimmeeMainStreet.com for an application and details. Vendors also can call the Kissimmee Main Street phone number at 407-846-4643 for more information. Kissimmee Main Street will be accepting applications until about one week before the May 1 event.