Roaring 20s Arts and Crafts Festival

If the weather service is correct, today is going to be a cool, breezy day with zero percent chance of rain; a perfect day for the 27th annual Roaring Twenties Arts and Crafts festival, said Robin Hinote, executive assistant for the Community Redevelopment Agency.

The downtown will be hopping from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the CRA presents the Roaring Twenties Arts and Crafts Festival, which will be followed at 5 p.m. by the Saturday Night Cruise.

"We have about 85 vendors, including the food," said Hinote. "I had three cancel on me this week. Two were health related, and one said he's still snowed-in in (New) Jersey. That's my funnel cake guy."

The CRA charges its vendors just $70 for a space. They want the show to pay for itself, said Hinote, and for visitors to have fun and become familiar with the downtown shopping area.

Some local shops will remain open, she said.

There will be craft vendors showing wood crafts, homemade soaps, sea shells, leather crafts, clothing, iron crafts, stained glass, jewelry and plants. There will also be painters, photographers and sculptors with artwork for sale.

Food vendors will sell kettle corn, lemonade, Italian ice, hot dogs and ice cream.

Due to the length of time it will take for event setup, local and State Roads within the event area will be closed at approximately 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12 and remain closed for the duration of the event.

Due to these road closures vehicular access to North Ridgewood Drive, Circle Park Drive and South Ridgewood Drive will not be permitted during the event, according to the Sebring Police Department.

Saturday Night Cruise

After a short time to clean up after the arts and crafts festival, about 65 to 80 classic, antique and muscle cars, as well as trucks will rumble into the Circle for the Saturday Night Cruise, said organizer Bud Whitlock on Friday.

The car show usually starts at about 5 p.m. There may be some delay for clean-up after the arts and crafts show. It will go on until about 8 p.m.

Car enthusiasts come from all over to enjoy the cruise, said Whitlock.

There will be prizes for first, second and third place and people's choice trophies as well as a new trophy for best truck. He's also got a drawing for a dozen $10 gas cards to give out.

A few downtown restaurants, including Sirianno's, a sandwich shop that just reopened on The Circle, as well as Sandy's Circle Cafe and Charlie's Steakhouse, have told organizers they will remain open.

The Canovas Roxanne sandwich shop will open at 8 a.m. Saturday and the owners had not yet decided if they would remain open beyond 4 p.m., when they normally close.

Dee's Place, on North Ridgewood Drive, will be open from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

There will also be food vendors at the cruise, including "Hog Heaven" barbecue and "I Scream for Ice Cream."

For more information go to www.sebringcruise.com or call Whitlock at (863) 471-1900.