City: Tampa Bay, FL

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (813) 645-6028

Description: Part country music jam, part farmer’s market, part living history exhibit, the two-day Ruskin Tomato and Heritage Festival celebrates the area’s best-known product, the Ruskin tomato—topping salads and tacos for generations. Upwards of 7,000 people come out to munch on fried green tomatoes, swamp cabbage, smoked mullet, and barbecue; to see how steam engines and antique tractors revolutionized agriculture; and to enjoy craft demonstrations and down-home bluegrass music. Free sliced tomatoes are offered, and free tomato plants are given to the first thousand or so attendees. Kids can ride a mechanical bull, bounce and bungee ‘til they’re good and tired, and then make some craft items in the workshop. Admission is $5 for ages 13 and up. Young ‘uns ages 12 and under are free. Cash only—an ATM machine is on site—for admission, activities, and food tickets, which are called—what else?—Tomato Bucks. Children’s activities range from $1 to $5 each. Pets are not encouraged, but those bringing a responsible owner—at the other end of a short leash and with pooper-scooper in hand—will not be turned away.Ruskin sits in southern Hillsborough County directly across Tampa Bay from south St. Petersburg, which means festivalgoers coming from Pinellas County may find it faster to go across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and up U.S. 41. Parking is free, as is the shuttle service to the main gate. E. G. Simmons Park is a Hillsborough County Park on the water. The park has restroom facilities, a playground, and beach areas.