Coconut Grove Arts Festival:
A Feast for the Eyes — and the Taste Buds
Fest Adds Culinary Arts to 43rd Annual Event

By Ana Trujillo

	Glass work by Joe Nielander of Spruce Pine, NC, one of the artists exhibiting at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival

This Presidents’ Day Weekend, (February 18-20), make plans to attend the 43^rd annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival sponsored by the Coconut Grove Arts and Historical Association, Inc. Downtown Coconut Grove will be a feast for art lovers all over Miami, The United States, Europe and Latin America.

This year the festival will feature a wide variety of art genres from visual arts to culinary arts. There will be something for every art lover.

The visual arts will feature more than 330 artists and the booths will be set up on McFarlane Road and also on South Bayshore Drive. There will be work in every form, from watercolor to photography and digital art by some of the best contemporary artists in the world.

Some unique offerings included in this year’s festival include the addition of the Culinary Pavilion, which will feature chef demonstrations and educational seminars.

“The Coconut Grove Arts Festival Board has a long term goal to put a permanent art gallery for the festival,” says Gary Ciuca, culinary director for the festival. “They have taken on the culinary arts.”

“The Culinary Arts Center that we have in mind is based on the Copia, which is the Culinary Arts Center in Napa Valley. I visualize something similar to that,” said Ciuca.

The Culinary Arts Pavilion will be the largest area at the festival. There will be five shows, starting at 10:30 a.m. and then every hour until 2:30 p.m. There will be a one hour break and the last show will be at 3:30 pm.

“We have a couple of corporate chefs, one from Budweiser, Equal and Starbucks,” says Ciuca.

Two fine restaurants, Casa Larios and Tropical Chinese, will provide restaurant style dining choices for festival goers. Casa Larios, located in South Miami, will be providing festival goers with fine Cuban cuisine. Tropical Chinese has traditionally been one of the Miami New Times favorite Chinese restaurant in the city.

Labyrith Locket by jewelry maker Dory, who will exhibit her work at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival

“They will be joined together in the middle and there will be a seating area for eating your foods from these two restaurants,” says Ciuca.

A highlight of the Pavilion is pastry chef Albert Uster. Ciuca says the Festival would be a great place to catch him for a bargain price.

“If you want to see him again the next week you’d have to pay $900 for dinner at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival.”

Another new addition is the Target Family Stage, which will provide entertainment for all including the children. This stage will be located in Myers Park on South Bayshore Drive.

There will also be the Budweiser Main Stage, which will be set up in Peacock Park and will feature music from many genres, including rock, pop and jazz. On this stage two acts will be featured daily, one starting at 2:30 and the other at 4:30.

Another first for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival is the official poster image, which is a photograph titled Ghost Orchid by photographer Clyde Butcher. Traditionally the official poster image has been a painting.

What hasn’t changed is the setting for the festival.  The unique village of Coconut Grove welcomes the 150,000 visitors that the festival usually draws.         

The Coconut Grove Bank Kids’ Creative Corner, situated in front of the Coconut Grove Convention Center, will offer child care for parents and also offer kids ages 4-13 a chance to do some artwork of their own. The Creative Corner will be manned by staff from the Young Rembrandts. The fee is $5 a child and per hour.

The Festival hours will be on Saturday, February 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Sunday the Festival will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. The last day of the festival will be on Monday, also from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The admission fee is $5 a person each day and children 12 and under are free. If you have a Metrorail Golden Passport or Patriot Passport you get in free as well. You can also purchase a three-day pass for $12.

Some of the proceeds of admissions fees will benefit the Coconut Grove Arts and Historical Association, Inc. which will be used to secure a home for the Festival permanently.

Parking is available at the various garages located in Coconut Grove at various prices. Spaces at the Douglas Road Metrorail station will also be provided by the Miami Department of Transportation. From this station they are offering a round-trip $1 shuttle to the corner of Grand Avenue and Mary Street.  You can also take your vehicle to the Coconut Grove hotels where they will offer valet parking.

For more information, visit www.CoconutGroveArtsFest.com.

Map of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival