Spring Festival WrapUp

The Spring Festival held again at Alligator Lake Park by the Four Rivers Audobon Society was a rousing success. We have already posted a short review and pictures on our Facebook page but thought a more in-depth blog post might be helpful. The cost for a vendor space was only $25 for 1 day with the festival beginning around 9:00 to 2:00 on a bright and beautiful Saturday in April. The Society holds the festival each year to try and educate the public on the natural wonders in the North Florida area, perhaps get more people interested in bird watching and talk about the many varieties of birds you can see in the park. They invited the local branch of the Florida Wildlife Office, Florida Forest Service, a couple of the state parks in the area came and gave demonstrations on other wildlife in our area, 2 wildlife rescue agencies, the North Florida Springs Alliance had information and even one of the local schools had a booth on conservation and alternative energy. They had 2 food vendors and maybe could have used another one as the ice cream trailer was quite busy.

There were only a couple of craft vendors among all the education booths though. That is probably because they only wanted vendors who specialize in products for birds. They had 2 woodwork vendors who had some birdhouses but mostly other wood items like little chairs, tables, toys, and cabinets. They had a lady who hand-painted gourds that could be used as birdhouses. The main vendor located next to the screened in the pavilion was a lady who creates statues and lamps using wood and handmade birds. From the listing of vendors, it seems that not everyone is now required to be bird centered. So maybe we will participate next year. They really do need to advertise more though to get more vendors to participate. Some of the vendors did make a little money but mostly it was just a day to market your goods just as most of these kinds of festivals tend to be.

Non-Profit Vendors List
Florida Forest Service
Columbia Public Library
IFAS Cisma
Taylor County Beekeeping
Branford Camera Club
Ichetucknee Springs Alliance
Florida Wildlife Care
Sunrise Wildlife
Friends of Ichetucknee
Ichetucknee State Park
Suwannee River Water Management
Master Gardeners
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission
4 Rivers Audubon Society
Ft White Middle School/High School
Columbia Fire and Rescue

For-Profit Vendors

Flowers For You
Potters Landscaping
Jeff Rundee Sandwiches
Home Depot
Gourd Ladies
Jim’s Wood Shop
Northern Lights Flutes
Kathy Kats Photos
Vrinda Oils
City Girlz
JoAnn’s Embroidery
Jayne 4 Wellness

As you can see there were more non-profits than profits booths this year. Sadly, we didn’t have enough time to visit each of the booths to get business cards to help promote small businesses in our area. We couldn’t really find information on the internet about them using the names given on the scheduling sheet. So, if you attended the Audubon Society’s Spring Festival this year as a vendor and would like to give us your internet information so people can check out what you have to sell and where please get in touch with us using our CONTACT US form and we will update this posting. Contact the society in January of next year if you make something that might fit into their bird them and would like the opportunity to market your goods.