MIDFLORIDA Mayfaire by-the-Lake Coming Very Soon!

Polk Museum of Art is geared up to present MIDFLORIDA Mayfaire by-the-Lake on May 9 & 10. This annual event is in its 38th year, and is always held on Mother’s Day weekend so that families can bring mom out to find a special gift. It’s sure to be everything that Lakelanders and Polk County residents have come to expect with childrens activities, great festival food, entertainment, and two parties, all centered around the main attraction: more than 180 artist displaying their work around Lake Morton!

As a special pre-event celebration, on Friday night, May 8, the Museum hosts the Mayfaire Kick-Off Party. The party is fro 5:30 – 7:30pm and is held on the lawn of the Lakeland Public Library on Lake Morton. Some of the artists are open for early viewing, and visitors can check that part out free of charge. But the happening place to be is at the party, which will include an open bar, entertainment, and great hors d’oeuvres by Texas Cattle Company. Tickets to the party are $20 for Museum members, $30 for Non-Members, or $35 at the door.

The main event begins on Saturday at 10am. All of the artists and food vendors will be open and ready for business! As always, a wide variety of artists will have their work on display — from painters to jewelers to ceramicists to wood workers. Everyone can find something they like!

If you’ve ever been to Mayfaire before, you know that finding parking can be a trick. To make it easier, we recommend parking behind the library at Florida Southern college right off MacDonald. PMoA is providing a free shuttle between the parking lot and Palmetto Street. Just hop aboard and you’ll be whisked down to the festival, and then when you’re done, you can catch a ride back to the parking lot.

One of the big changes this year is that the Children’s Art Tent has been moved to the Museum’s parking lot and is now part of a larger Kids Zone. As always, there will be fun, FREE art activities to engage the young ones, but this year there will also be bounce houses and a climbing wall. The bounce houses and climbing wall will involve a small fee.

On Saturday night, the fun moves over to Lake Mirror for Mayfaire Saturday Night/Festival of Arts & Athletes. Entertainment starts at 5:00pm with Quittin’ Time. At 7:00pm, Lakeland Runners Club will start the annual Mayfaire Classic 5k. Then at 9:00pm, you can enjoy a great fireworks display. Music continues until 11:00pm with The Ditchflowers. Admission to this event is free, so feel free to bring your picnic and chairs. If you’d rather have someone else make the food, vendors will be on hand.

MIDFLORIDA Mayfaire by-the-Lake continues on Sunday until 5:00pm. The show award winners will be announced at 2:00pm from the stage at the Lakeland Public Library lawn.

We hope you can join us for this Lakeland tradition! Wear your sunscreen, hat, and sunglasses, and come out to celebrate the arts.