Special Events in Palm Beach

January:
Polo Season opens early in the month at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club in West Palm Beach 793-1440.

Japanese New Year
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens 4000 Morikami Park Road Delray Beach Admission charged. Tea ceremony extra. In early January. Traditional holiday decorations set the theme for Hatsaugama, the first tea ceremony of the New Year. Visitors learn to make mochitsuki or traditional rice cakes. Games include Hanetsuki, similar to badminton. There is also the game of Fuki Warai, similar to pin the tail on the donkey. There are demoinstrations in calligraphy and the making of greeting cards.

February:
The Delray Affair, held the weekend following Easter, is a big event that features arts, crafts, and food 279-1380.

Artigras
Abacoa Community Center in Jupiter Annual event put on by the North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce. Hundreds of booths are set up and art works are displayed. Arts, crafts, food and new Orleans style music are the highlights of this three day affair during President's weekend. Originally a small affair with a few hundred participants. Now, over 60,000. Proceeds benefit the Chamber's pledge to Palm Beach County Schools.

Bookfest
South Florida Fair Grounds
Southern Blvd., 7 miles west of I-95.
West Palm Beach
BookFest is an annual literary event that draws more than 20,000 qttendees over three days. Visitors move between exhibits and lectures and receptions for authors. Storytellers entertain. Showcased are mystery writers, children;s book authors, romance writers, first novelists, rare books, best sellers, and non-sellers. Coincides with Natiional Library Week. Nominal admission charge.

March:
Meet Me Downtown
Downtown Boca Raton
395-4433
This event is Boca Raton's largest arts and entertainment festival. More than 400 arts and crafts booths are set up in Mizner Park, in Royal Palm Plaza, and along Palmetto Park Road. The Amphitheater stage is filled with strolling acts such as jugglers, mimes, stilt walkers, etc. Meet Me Downtown benefits the Golden Bell Foundation, an education fund set up by the Greater Boca Chamber of Commerce. More than 150,000 people attend the fair. The three day event takes place in early March.

Boynton Beach GALA
Ocean Avenue and Boynton Beach Blvd.
375-6235
An art, live music, open air family event with a marketplace, games and rides for the children, picnic areas, exhibitions with the works of more than 250 artists on display. They compete for awards in the categories of watercolors, ceramics, oil, acrylics, drawing and graphics, photography, jewelry, sculpture, and crafts. This is Boynton's largest outdoor family festival.

April:
Palm Beach Invitational International Piano Competition
Palm Beach, Florida
833-8817
This three day competition of the world's finest young pianists is held in the spring. From January through March prior to the competition, the Piano Guild presents weekly Sunday Salon and Living Room Concerts at the Four Seasons Grand Hotel, S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach. These serve as fund raisers for the spring competition. Sunday programs begin at 4pm.

Black Gold Jubilee
Belle Glade Marina
Belle Glade, FL
561-996-2745
Held during the third week in April, at the end of the Florida Farmworkers' harvest season, this festival combines a blessing of the soil and a way of recognizing the agricultural workers.
Jubilee events include sports contests such as volleyball, tennis, golf, and a road race. There is also a street festival with booths, crafts, entertainment and evening fireworks. Admission is free.

May:
Sea Turtles
After sunset from May until August, female sea turtles crawl onto moonlit beaches well above the high-tide line, dig a hole with their flippers and bury as many as 120 eggs. The mother turtle then drags herself back into her ocean home, leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves. .After her eggs have incubated in the warm sand for about two months, the baby turtles hatch, dig their way of the nest before dawn and begin their journey to the safety of the ocean. If you are visiting the county during this time, be sure to sign up for a turtle walk to experience this amazing event.

June:
Kidsfest
Carlin Park Amphitheater
Jupiter
575-7336
Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival produces this event for children featuring two evenings of special shows and entertainment in the beginning of June. Events take place over two days from 6-10pm. Small admission charge.

July:
SoulFest
Phil Foster Park
900 Blue heron Blvd.
Riviera Beach
842-7146
Held under the Blue Heron Bridge, this three day late July/early August festival combines arts and crafts, entertainment, and plenty of good food. The focus is on the educational awareness of black history and black cultural heritage. Headline entertainment is featured nightly. The Sunbcoast Chamber of Commerce sponsors SoulFest which draws a crowd of over 20,000.

August:
Boca Festival Days and Boca Expo
The whole month of August is devoted to Festival Days. Dog washes, art exhibits, underwater photography; kite flying, treasure hunts; sand sculpture; fashion shows, antique car shows, softball and gymnastics are a few of the events. An annual trade fair is part of the fun. More than 20,000 attend the show over three days.

September:
Clematis By Night
The Downtown Development Authority sponsors this series of concerts on Thursday nights from 5-8pm. Downtown streets are closed to traffic and regional bands entertain crowds of people with rock, reggae, country, jazz, etc.

Sunset Celebration
Singer Island
Sailfish Marina
98 Lake Drive
1-800-446-4577
Every Thursday from 6-9pm. this art and craft show features local and national artists exhibiting sculpture, paintings, photographs and jewelry.

October:
Oktoberfest
5111 Lantana Road
American German Club picnic grounds
Lake Worth
967-6464
The festival runs two weekends in mid-October. The festival is so popular that there is shuttle service from John Prince Park in Lake Worth. Admission fee.

November:
Frontier Family Days
Royal Palm Polo Grounds
Boca Raton, 561-994-1021
This professional three day rodeo is an annual fund raiser to benefit the George Snow Scholarship Fund. Major corporate sponsors, professional cowboys and a well rounded program draw thousands to the rodeo on the first weekend each November.

December:
Palm Beach Round Table
230 Royal Palm Way
Ste. 202
Palm Beach
655-5266
Modeled after the ideal of King Arthur, a cadre of intellectuals dined and socialized to work through the problems and issues of the day starting in 1932. The tradition continues, but the venue has moved to larger quarters. The Kravis Center is now the location; the events are sold out, and the speakers hold forth in the 11,000 square foot hospitality hall with banquet facilities. Schedule is released in October for December-May events.