ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce’s 25th annual BayFest celebration took place on Saturday, Oct. 17, despite the rainy weather that continued until midafternoon.
The anticipated rain led to the cancellation of the car show, but the live bands and the many food vendors and retail vendors weathered the storm and were rewarded with dry weather and clearer skies later in the day.
The food court included the Freckled Fin, Sandbar Seafood & Spirits, Topsail Steamer, Poppo’s Taqueria, Oasis Pizza, Simply Greek by Winnberry, Gran Arepa Southwest and Red Zeppelin Rocking Lobster.
The BayFest bands included Mike Sales, who also served as the BayFest master of ceremonies, Sycamore Shade, Memphis Rub, Jack’D Up and The Karen and Jimmy Band.
While working the Chamber merchandise and information booth around 4:30 p.m., Chamber volunteer Laurie Shelton discussed how the day unfolded.
“There were several people that showed up even in the rain and everybody was happy. And there was this lovely mother and she had her little girl with her rain slicker on and she was running through the puddles and the mom was clapping and they were kicking puddles. It was just a lovely day and people were even bringing their pets with them. It’s always picked up within the last hour,” Shelton said.
WDT Gift and Home Decor Division vendor George Guyon was one of the dozens of vendors that lined Pine Avenue.
“It was a tough day. It was raining like crazy. Everybody got wet. We got flooding in the booths but we’re persistent,” he said. “We wanted to be here to serve the community. The sun came up after the rain quit and we’ve got a nice crowd. Look at the place now.”
Around 6 p.m., Cool Beans A.M.I. owner Morgan Bryant said, “It started off really slow and rainy, but we made the best of it. We grabbed a big umbrella from Cool Beans and we walked all the way down the street. That was a lot of fun. It turned out to be an awesome day. Now the sun’s out and now everybody’s walking around.”
CHAMBER APPRECIATION
On Sunday, Chamber President Amber Tipton provided a written statement that said, “On behalf of the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the 25th anniversary of BayFest an unforgettable success.
“Even though the skies opened up and brought rain, the true spirit of Anna Maria Island shone through brighter than ever. This milestone celebration would not have been possible without the dedication, hard work and resilience of so many individuals and organizations.”
Tipton thanked the city of Anna Maria and Mayor Mark Short for supporting the festival, and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and Sgt. Brett Getman for keeping the event safe.
She credited all the volunteers who worked through the weather, singling out Ed Moss and CrossPointe Fellowship Church for their help from setup to teardown, and she thanked Sales for keeping the crowd’s energy up all day.
Tipton thanked all the local and out-of-town vendors, and all the musicians who played through the rain. She also thanked Jimmy Lally for providing and setting up the stage and for closing out the evening with a fantastic performance.
“Thank you to everyone in the community and the visitors who came out to support us. It is your resilience, energy and community spirit that make BayFest so special year after year. Here is to the next 25 years!” Tipton said.
