CELEBRATIONS
Where: Melody Lane, Marina Square Park, on the Indian
River in historic downtown Fort Pierce
When: First Friday of each month, year round, from
5:30-8:30 p.m.
What: Live musical entertainment, food, drinks, arts
and crafts, activities for kids, and a chance to socialize
and relax.
Admission: Free
40
Friday Fest
John Wilkes, executive director of the Sunrise Theatre, was
working for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota
when he found out about Friday Fest, and promptly
started a version of it in Sarasota.
“And we called it Friday Fest,” he said. “We had 3,000
people coming to it.”
Looking back down the 20 years since Friday Fest started
with a small band of believers standing in the street with no
band outside of a restaurant, hoping that a big crowd would
come and discover Fort Pierce, Tom Kindred said, “We didn’t
ever expect it to grow larger than our 2,500 people. What’s
amazing to me, even today, is the number of people walking
around the sidewalks in Fort Pierce in the evening. I just kind
of have to smile and say, ‘You know, it worked!’ That will
always hold a special place in my heart.”
A rock-climbing
wall attracts
a daredevil
who hopes to
make it
to the top.
MAIN STREET FORT PIERCE PHOTO
PHOTO BY JOHN CULVERHOUSE
With the sparkling Indian River and South Bridge in the background, the street festival called Friday Fest is the signature event for the historic Fort Pierce
downtown.