Each year in March, 30,000 - 40,000 people from all over South Florida flock to The Walk on University Drive for a weekend of art and culture, just plain fun and frolic, enjoying gorgeous weather (six years out of seven!) and the best of what outdoor festivals are supposed to be.

And this year will be no different! The 8th Annual Festival of the Arts returns March 17 and 18 from 10am-5pm daily and will highlight some of America’s finest artisans and contemporary crafters, plants, pet products, jewelry … and you never know what else.

We all know the beautiful Walk in Coral Springs as a great local shopping and dining destination on its own, and this annual Festival brings even more focus to this multi-block shopping mecca. When you tire of the fair, sit a spell at one of the many restaurants, have an ice cream, or an international meal or dart into any of the wonderful stores that line The Walk.

Produced by Howard Alan Events, one of America’s leading independent promoters of fine art festivals with over 45 art fairs nationwide, our very own Coral Springs Festival of the Arts features a professional juried art and craft show with over 175 fine artisans and crafters, in addition to live entertainment and amazing literary workshops. There truly is something going on every minute BESIDES the booths! But more importantly “they” said a festival of this magnitude could not be successful in “western” Broward, and “they” were so wrong. For the past seven years this festival has brought out friends, families, and neighbors to what is now such a beloved annual event; all within a stone’s throw of each of us.

The Festival offers something for everyone—from children to seniors—with many people bringing along their four-legged friends who also enjoy the weekend, especially the “Pawcasso” booth set up and manned by the Friends of the Coral Springs Museum of Art. Pups get to “paint” their parents a picture! Best of all, proceeds from the Festival (a 501C3 corporation) benefits our very own Coral Springs Museum of Art and other nonprofit artistic endeavors within the community. It’s truly a sweet win/win/win with the community benefitting in myriad ways.

While free parking is available at The Walk, you can save yourself some time by avoiding the traffic completely and taking advantage of the free trolley service that departs from the Coral Springs Center for the Arts. Kind of like park and ride in style!

So beyond the booths, the tres cool stuff and the sheer enjoyment of being in such a happy place, licensed bakeries who think they have what it takes to bake and decorate the next great cake are invited to enter the festival’s Cake Challenge Contest. This year’s cake theme is “South Florida with an Irish Twist.” Each cake entry is $50 (maximum of two entries per contestant) and a copy of the bakery’s license is required to enter. Cakes can be a maximum of two feet wide, and judging will be based on artistic creativity, decorating technique and presentation of theme. The first place award is a $100 certificate, a trophy and bragging rights for one year. Winners will be contacted by phone and formally announced on the main stage of the festival on Sunday, March 18. All entries become the property of Coral Springs Festival of the Arts and will be auctioned at 4pm March 17. All proceeds belong to the Coral Springs Festival of the Arts. Deadline to enter the Cake Challenge Contest is March 1, so visit http://csfoa.org/pdf/cake-challenge-contest-entry-form.pdf to download the official entry form, and then get baking! Need some inspiration? Visit http://csfoa.org/cake_win.html to view last year’s entries.

Each year, a Signature Artist is chosen based on his/her work representing South Florida, specifically Coral Springs, and this year’s artist is Ernest “Ezi“ Algazi. An international artist, Ezi is strongly influenced by his travels around the world where he captures the beauty of what he sees in landscapes, people and cultures. Visit EziStudio.net to learn more about him.

Wanna get involved? The Coral Springs Festival of the Arts planning committee is looking for volunteers to assist at the Festival with the following: manning the merchandise sales booths, assisting with the children’s area (puppet show, bubble wrap dance, etc.), manning the volunteer booth, assisting with Artist Hospitality, greeting visitors, checking parking passes & distributing flyers, setup and breakdown, and various other duties. All teens should contact the Teen Volunteer Coordinator, Shirley Klein, at Shirley@ShirleyKlein.com or by phone or text at 954.448.9088.

Sponsorship opportunities are available…it’s a great way to expose your business to the community. To learn more about sponsorships and for more event details, visit www.csfoa.org.

And when you’re at the Festival, be sure to stop by the Life Publications’ booth (with or without your pet) and say “hey!”(We’re a proud sponsor once again!) Smile “perty” and have your picture taken for inclusion in one of our upcoming issues of Parkland/Coral Springs Life! Sign up for our e-vite and be entered to win one of 10 prizes: $50 gift certificates to local restaurants or sets of movie passes to a flick of your choice. We’ll see you there!