Tampa, FL., July 8, 2019 – The Tampa Red White & Blue Festival presented by Blue Bunny Ice Cream brought lots of All American family fun, food, and free ice cream to its new location at Grand Central at Kennedy and Madison Street.
After waiting for the rain to cease, the event kicked off in grand style with a warm welcome by dogs all across the Bay in their red, white and blue strolling down Madison Street for the Patriotic Paw Walk. A new and unique feature of the event this year, the walk which was hosted by New Barker Magazine had the crowd in awe and adoration. Swag bags filled with goodies were awarded to all participating dogs owners and special prizes were issued to the best dressed dogs which included a cute yorkie name Bromley who came strolling on a wagon in red, white, and blue.
Just when everyone thought the cuteness ended with the dogs, the event later welcomed a Best Dressed Kid contest highlighting our tiniest patriots, and later the the youngest people in the city displaying independence, literally. That’s right, the festival brought to stage four of Tampa’s top kid bosses for the 2nd staging of the Tampa Kids CEO Award.
Among this years awardees were - 8 year old Antonio Jackson - Owner of Tony’s Tea, 7 year old Emily Gorman - Owner of Adorna Vida, 7 year old Bentley Rogers - Patient Ambassador of Shriners Hospital for Children, and 11 year old Jordan Parramore of Jordan’s Juice Bar. All four CEOs were thrilled with the opportunity to sell their featured products at the festival and was acknowledged on stage with gifts and certificates from City Festivals to congratulate them. The Top Kid CEO of the Year, Emily Gorman which was determined by online public voting championed with an additional award presented by I9 Sports.
The celebration continued in the streets with giveaways including free ice cream from Blue Bunny, Sunpass top ups, and live performances by local sensation, Sweetiee Keedy, Tara B, F & R Band, and Trumpeter, Jevon Falcon.
Among the crowd engaging activities for the evening was the intense Family Food Eating Contest where the WILD 94.1 Family vs The Gabby Family were given a variation of All - American bites from featured vendors with the goal of feeding each other faster than the other team. A hard-earned tie resulted in an epic dance battle that will go down in festival history!
Admission to the festival was free for all guests and is set to return next year to bring joy to your 4th of July!
The Tampa Red White & Blue Festival is made possible, thanks to the hardworking team of City Festivals and the sponsorship of community supporters including Grand Central at Kennedy, Sunpass, CBD American Shaman, Tmobile, El Dorado Furniture, New Barker, Club Wydhnam, Top Golf, Tampa Downtown Partnership, Pina Power, and this year’s presenting sponsor Blue Bunny Ice Cream!
