Songwriters Fest, Savor St. Pete, Greek Food On Tap Nov. 1-3

TAMPA BAY, FL — Music and food - lots of it - is on tap this weekend in Tampa Bay with Savor St. Pete, the Largo Taste Fest, the Downtown St. Pete Songwriters Festival, the Greek-American Festival, the Tampa Riverwalk Food & Art Festival and more taking place.

Savor St. Pete

The eighth annual Savor St. Pete, a two-day food, wine and craft beer festival, will take place Nov. 2-3 at its new venue at North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg.

Previously called Clearwater Beach Uncorked, Savor St. Pete showcases Tampa Bay's best restaurants and favorite breweries. Guests sweet and savory fare to compliment an array of wines and craft beers, and will meet Tampa Bay's top chefs, wine specialists and brew masters.

The Savor St. Pete Best Chef Competition will feature culinary professionals from Tampa Bay’s best and most popular restaurants vying to outcook and outshine other contestants by creating a featured dish for judging at the event on Saturday, Nov. 2.

“Cooking with Rock Stars” is a new television series featuring fan favorite '80s rockers. They will be preparing their personal recipes and sharing juicy stories with fans. Two special episodes of Season One will be filmed at Savor St. Pete featuring Brian Howe, former Bad Company lead singer, appearing on Saturday, and lead singer/songwriter Martha Davis from The Motels featured on Sunday.

“We look forward to creating an extraordinary level of excitement in the ‘Burg,’” said Tammy Gail, festival founder and producer. “We are bringing elements that will ramp up the cool factor that Savor St. Pete will feature.”

Tickets are now available for general admission and VIP admission on both Saturday and Sunday.

A limited number of VIP tickets allows guests early access to the entire event from noon to 4 p.m., as well as to the private VIP Spirits Lounge serving craft cocktails. VIP tickets are $100 per person daily and sell out quickly.

General admission guests are welcome from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person per day.

All event guests will receive a limited-edition wine glass, custom tote bag and access to the Grand Tasting Village located in a 30,000-square-foot tent. Food, wine and beer sampling are all included in the ticket prices. Tickets may be purchased online.

A portion of the proceeds from Savor St. Pete will benefit students at the Art Institute of Tampa, a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design.

Largo Taste Fest

The Largo Rotary Club will host fourth annual Largo Taste Fest Saturday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Family Aquatic Center, 400 Highland Ave. N.

The event will feature samples from local restaurants including Poke Rose, Outback Steakhouse, Ohana Coffee Kava & Tea, Sages West Bay Bistro and Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q along with artwork on display, live music, a silent auction and activities for kids. Attendees will have a chance to vote for their favorite artwork and restaurant.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door and are available at the Highland Recreation Complex, Southwest Recreation Complex, Largo Community Center or Central Park Performing Arts Center. The event benefits the Largo Rotary Charitable Foundation and the City of Largo’s Summer Camp scholarship program.

To The Rescue!

To The Rescue! is a food, wine, beer and spirit celebration benefiting Rescue Cats of Florida.

It will take place Saturday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, 1001 North Blvd., Tampa.

Guests of the event can stroll the river walk sampling a selection of wines, craft beers and spirits and foods from restaurants including Outback Steakhouse, Little Greek Restaurants, Kerry Gold, Pepperidge Farms, Fuzzy’s Tacos and Ciccio Cali while listening to live entertainment.

All proceeds benefit Rescue Cats of Florida, a five-county comprehensive animal rescue whose mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home abused and homeless animals.

Tickets are $65.

Tampa Riverwalk Food & Art Festival

The Tampa Riverwalk Food & Art Festival is set for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Waterworks Park, 1710 N. Highland Ave., Tampa.

The event will feature more than 80 arts and crafts booths, food vendors and food trucks as well as live music, a photo booth and an area with children's activities. The event is free.

Coral Head Music Fest

Organizers of the popular Coral Head Music Fest in the Florida Keys will launch a new festival in Pinellas Park Saturday.

The Coral Head Music Fest will take place at England Brothers Park, 5010 81st Ave. N., Pinellas Park.

The music kicks off at noon with Jen and continues into the night with Jackyl, HairDze, the Mitch Perry Group, Slaughter and Sebastian Bach. Click here for a schedule.

Advance tickets start at $34. Tickets will be available at the gate for $39.

Songwriters Festival

The Downtown St. Petersburg Songwriters Festival will feature more than 35 national singer/songwriters performing more than 100 free acoustic sets in the heart of the Arts District Nov. 1-3.

On Friday, the highlights are Collective Soul’s Ed Roland and Jesse Triplett, the Warren Brothers and Sonia Leigh at the Mahaffey Theater, 400 1st St. S.

Also performing will be Aaron Barker, Tim James, Jimmy Nash, Natalia Bonfini, Luke Preston, Maddie Medly and more.

Venues include the rooftop of the Red Mesa Cantina, The Galley, The Canopy at The Birchwood, Thirty First, the Mahaffey Theater, the Saturday Morning Market, Jannus Live, One Night Stand, Subcentral at Iberian Rooster, MacDinton's, Yard of Ale, Caddy's on Central, Parks & Rec, Ruby's Elixir and The Hollander.

For the full lineup, click here.

St. George Greek-American Festival

St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 9426 Little Road, New Port Richey, will host its 35th annual Greek-American Festival featuring Greek foods like gyros, tzatziki, souvlaki, kourabiedes, baklava, mastika, dolmades and Greek coffee and beer.

The event will include a carnival midway with rides, games and fair food.

There will be Greek music and dance performances by the St. George dance groups and Patrida and guided tours of St. George Greek Orthodox Church.

On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., parents can receive a free Safe Kids Total ID System for their children, courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. Each kit includes a fingerprint card and badge.

World-renowned archon maester Elias Damianakis will demonstrate the techniques of creating iconographs each day of the festival.

The festival runs Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Admission is free.

56th Dunedin Art Harvest

The 56th annual Junior League of Clearwater Dunedin Art Harvest will take place Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Highlander Park, 903 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin.

Attendees can peruse the booths of more than 200 artists and crafters who work with jewelry, fiber, glass, ceramics, photography, watercolors and mixed media.

During the juried art show, artists will compete for more than $27,000 in prize money and awards in 13 categories including ceramics, digital, fiber, glass, graphics, jewelry, metal, mixed media, oil/acrylics, photography, sculpture, watercolors and wood. The featured artist this year is Leslie Peebles.

Indie Flea St. Pete Street Faire

The Indie Flea St. Pete Street Faire will take place Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. featuring more than 100 artisans and vintage, jewelry and upcycled clothing vendors, food trucks, mobile shops, DJ Hello Darlin' Records and specialty beers, ciders and meads at Green Bench Brewing Co., 1133 Baum Ave. N., St. Petersburg.

Meet Barbecue Baron Myron Mixon

Barbecue champion Myron Mixon will visit Tampa to promote his new cookbook, “ BBQ & A with Myron Mixon: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About BBQ," his line of BBQ smokers and pellet grills as well as teach a Thanksgiving-themed turkey cooking class.

Miller will be at Just Grillin Outdoor Living, 11743 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. There will be a free public meet-and-greet from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fans can meet Mixon, get their picture taken with him and have him sign a copy of his new book.

Mixon is a celebrity chef who regularly appears on network TV shows such as Fox & Friends, Today, Live with Kelly & Ryan and CBS This Morning. Mixon also stars on BBQ Pitmasters and BBQ Pitwars on Discovery’s Destination America and Cooking Channel. He is the author of the successful New York Times bestselling cookbook Smokin’ with Myron Mixon: Recipes Made Simple, from the Winningest Man in Barbecue (Random House, May 2011), Everyday Barbeque (Random House, May 2013) and Myron Mixon’s BBQ Rules (Abrams, 2016).

To register for his cooking class, click here.

Wildcat Walkabout

The Wildcat Walkabout is Big Cat Rescue's annual fundraising event to benefit conservation projects for wild exotic cats around the globe.

On Saturday, guests may wander the sanctuary at their leisure during the three-hour event and see many of the sanctuary's more than 50 big cats in their spacious, natural enclosures. There will be food trucks, raffles and gift shop items for sale. Parking is free. No children under 5 are allowed. Check-in starts at 11 a.m. and the walkabout runs from noon to 3 p.m. Click here.

Marching Band Festival

The public is invited to see Hillsborough County's high school marching bands and color guards perform their fall programs for the judges during the Hillsborough County Marching Band MPA Festival Saturday at noon at Bloomingdale High School, 1700 E. Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico.

USF's Herd the Thunder band will also perform.

Tickets are $10 and available the day of the event. There will be a variety of concessions and food vendors on hand.

Fall Fancy Flea Vintage Home & Garden Market

The Fall Fancy Flea Vintage Home & Garden Market will take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds, 2866 Reynolds St. W.

Admission is $5. Parking is free.

Dealers will offer shabby chic furniture, antiques, prairie and farmhouse, cottage and mid-century, repurposed items, primitives, garden decor, original art, rustic pieces and salvage, artisan jewelry and soaps, as well as vintage and handmade clothing, fabric and jewelry.

There will also be live music, food trucks and prizes.

Scooter rentals will be available. No pets are permitted.

Day Of The Dead Block Party

The Dog Bar, 2300 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, will host a Day of the Dead Block Party Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Along with Right Around the Corner Brewery and The Pinball Arcade Museum, the block party will feature face painting by Nicole Desiree Hays of Body Wars, the Clara Rose Ice Cream and Nueva Cantina food trucks, chihuahua races, DJ Shannon C, street vendors, a costume contest, raffle prizes.

The chihuahua races will begin at 1 p.m. and costs $5 to enter.

The event will benefit Limbo Chihuahuas Rescue and Pawlicious Poochie Pet Rescue.

4th Annual Community Harvest Festival

Derrick Brooks Charities and Fifth Third Bank will present the fourth annual Community Harvest Event Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at Copeland Park, 11001 N. 15th St., Tampa.

This is a free wellness event for the entire family, featuring financial resources, food, games, an event raffle, kids zone activities, health resources and safety information from the Tampa Police Department.

India Festival Tampa Bay

India Festival Tampa Bay, a festival of arts and dances in which nearly 1,000 participants showcase their talents, will take place Saturday, Nov. 2 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Florida State Fairgrounds, 4800 U.S. 301 N., Tampa.

The festival is a unique annual event presented by the Gujarati Samaj of Tampa Bay Inc. It has now become one of the largest events of its kind with more than 12,000 attendees.

All proceeds generated at this event are invested back into the community to promote youth education and maintain the Indian heritage in Tampa Bay, a culture that is known worldwide for its music and dances.

Congo Caliente Festival

Join the celebration of Hispanic arts and culture during the 16th annual Conga Caliente FestivalSunday at Al Lopez Park, 4810 N. Himes Ave., Tampa.

The free event will include performances by national acts, a youth area, traditional ethnic foods, conga players contest, artist displays, a health village, a beer garden and a cigar and domino area.