Southern Exposure "The nation’s first all-gay carnival weekend event” comes to GaYbor complete with 68-foot-tall Ferris wheel, carnival midway and Ms. RuPaul, who will be performing Saturday and Sunday nights at L’Olivier’s. Feb. 27-March 1, Southern Exposure, 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat., noon-9:30 p.m. Sun., Czar parking lot, Seventh Avenue and 14th Street, free admission; RuPaul at L’Olivier’s, Fri.-Sat., various ticket packages available (some including dinner), L’Olivier’s Restaurant and Cabaret, Seventh Avenue and 16th Street, 813-247-5307, loliviercabaret.com.
Fiesta Day and Flan Fest Ybor City celebrate "its magnificent ethnic heritage and culture" with an International Parade of Flags, Children’s Fiesta, Black Bean Blowout (insert flatulence joke here) and the Flan Fest (including flan bake-off, an eating contest and plenty of the decadent dessert for purchase). Sat., Feb. 28, Fiesta Day, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., throughout Ybor City and encompassing Flan Fest, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., with celebrity judging to commence at noon and a flan-eating contest beginning at 2 p.m., at Ybor City Saturday Market, Centennial Park, between 18th and 19th streets and Eighth Avenue, Ybor City, 813-248-0721, cc-events.org/fiestaday.
To Life, To Courage and Compassion Dinner The leading career scorer in NBA history, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has always been a man with more on his mind than jockish concerns. The 7-foot-2 former center, now 61, has a history of social activism, which is likely why the Florida Holocaust Museum invited him to speak at its annual fundraising dinner and USF-St. Pete snagged him for a lecture. To Life Dinner, Sat., Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m., A La Carte Event Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive, Tampa, $225 per person, 727-820-0100 ext. 251; and Legacy of African-American Achievement, Sun., March 1, 1 p.m., USF St. Petersburg Campus Activities Center, Sixth Avenue S. and Second Street S., St. Petersburg, free admission.
CONTINUING THIS WEEKEND
Gasparilla International Film Festival
Ten days of movies, workshops and parties. Go to gasparillafilmfestival.com for more information; read CL's feature here. Feb. 26-Mar. 7, Channelside Cinemas, Tampa Theatre, Beach Theatre, Studio@620.
Nude Nite. A huge multi-media nude art show from Orlando Feb. 26-28, 6 p.m.-midnight Thurs.-Sat., Ybor City Warehouse, 1925 E. Second. Ave., Ybor City, $20 (21 and up, cash only).
Bay Area Renaissance Festival Kings and castles and new acts like Acrobellum, an acrobatic balancing troupe that stack themselves into gravity-defying shapes. Feb. 21-April 5, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun., MOSI Fields, 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, $16.95 adults, $13.95 seniors/$8.95 children 5-12 (free ages 4 and under), 813-987-6300, renaissancefest.com.
Strawberry Festival Plant City celebrates its bumper crop with midway fun and an all-star country music lineup. Feb. 26-March 8, gates open at 10 a.m. daily, Florida Strawberry Festival Grounds, 2202 W. Reynolds St., Plant City, regular advance admission is $8 adults and $4 children (free for ages 5 and under); concerts range from $10 to $45 a ticket depending on the act. For more info, read CL's coverage or visit flstrawberryfestival.com.
After the jump: Catch these art shows before they close.
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2009.