City: Tampa Bay, FL

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (727) 235-9095

Description: Comprised of 30 member societies representing ethnicities from around the world, SPIFFS is the only independent multiethnic organization of its kind in the United States. SPIFFS offers a speakers’ bureau, has several dance groups willing to perform ethnic dances, and maintains a language bank of volunteers who translate and interpret in legal and medical cases or when foreign dignitaries visit. Each March, SPIFFS members host a three-day International Folk Fair with music, dancing, martial arts, and other activities from countries around the world. You might see a Thai Grit Sada Pee Nee Han blessing dance, a Scottish sword dance, or the African Urban Ballet Dundo-dole. Watch craftsmen from various countries make lace or dye eggs or carve wood. Sample ethnic dishes you’ve watched being prepared. Talk to people from other countries and learn different ways of doing things. In addition to local performers, past guest artists have included Celtic musician Colin Grant-Adams and the Russian folk group Barynya, starring Misha Smirnov of “Superstars of Dance.” The Folk Fair is held at the Vinoy Park (701 Bayshore Dr. N.E.). Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for youth ages 10 to 17, and free for children under age 10. Admission on Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. is free for everyone. The Folk Fair runs Friday from 3 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.