This weekend is all about the beach! Make plans to come out to two popular local festivals that celebrate the sugary 
sands and pristine shorelines of our beautiful Gulf Coast beaches. Gather up your family and your friends and be ready for a weekend of fun in the Florida sun.
Here’s what’s happening!
Beauty & the Beach in Indian Rocks Beach
Kolb Park at the 18th Avenue beach access on Bay Palm Boulevard in Indian Rocks Beach is the place to be for the annual Beauty & the Beach celebration from 9a.m. to 4p.m. this Saturday, April 5.
Start the day off with a delicious pancake breakfast at the Calvary Episcopal Church from 7-11a.m. Then head over to the Beauty & the Beach festival which features an arts and crafts show, plein-air artists, and a chalk walk at Kolb Park. On the beach you’ll find live entertainment from 11a.m. to 7p.m. with Jimmy Suvoy (11am.-3p.m.) and the Sweet Spot Band (3p.m.-7p.m.). There’s also kite flying, sand castle contests, and the Little Miss Beauty and the Beach contest.
Your favorite local restaurants are on-hand offering up delicious fare as well as beer, wine and soda. Be sure to bring your appetite, your sunscreen and your favorite people to this popular IRB event.
Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival on Clearwater Beach
Voted Best Beach Town in Florida and Best Place to Watch a Sunset by the readers of USA Today, you’ll see why Clearwater Beach is a favorite among vacationers and beach-goers from all over. In its second year, the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival is a ten-day festival that begins this weekend on April 4 and continues through April 13. It’s your chance to enjoy sugar-sand days and sunset-filled nights on one of the area’s best beaches.
If you’ve been to Clearwater Beach, you know it’s famous for its nightly Sunsets at Pier 60 festivals featuring live 
entertainment, performers, vendors, free movie nights on the beach, along with stunning Gulf Coast sunsets over the pier. You’ll find all of that and more during the Sugar Sand Festival.
The festival features a thousand tons of sugary Clearwater Beach sand creatively carved into the Sugar Sand Walk Exhibit, an artistic walk-through display under a 15,000-square-foot-tent featuring beloved iconic movies of past decades. In addition to the exhibit you’ll find sand-sculpting clinics, a fireworks display, speed sand demonstrations, ten nights of movies, your favorite beach food and drinks, and so much more.
Cost of admission for the Sugar Sand Walk Exhibit is $8 for adults; $4 for students 6 to 17 years old; and $5 for seniors (55 & up), college students, military, police and firefighters. Children age 5 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
You can purchase Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival tickets here. There are also plenty of free activities to enjoy during the festival.
For the latest festival information and updates, be sure to check out the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival’s Facebook page.
Where to Stay on Florida’s Gulf Coast
Staying locally on the pristine barrier island shores of Indian Rocks Beach and Indian Shores offers you the tranquility and relaxation of the quiet, secluded, family-friendly beaches found on the Gulf Coast combined with c
lose, convenient access to the larger, more crowded beaches found in Clearwater Beach and beyond. It’s the only way to go to experience the best of both worlds during your beach vacation.
Our Plumlee vacation rentals offer many more amenities than a hotel or motel would, so you get to indulge in the comforts of home combined with the luxuries of a vacation. Our Plumlee Perks add some extra benefits to your vacation that you won’t find anywhere else including free bikes, a free vacation app, free DVDs, and so much more.
We’re excited for all of the beach-filled fun and festivities on tap this weekend. Will we be seeing you at Beauty & the Beach in IRB and at the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival? If so, let us know. We always love hearing from our readers.
Cheers to the sugar sand beaches and sun-drenched shores of Florida’s Gulf Coast! See you on the beach.
