Florida Heritage Festival
Florida Heritage Festival
The De Soto Celebration held each year from late March through most of April in Bradenton goes back to 1939. In past years, a group of costumed conquistadores would reenact de Soto's landing, coming ashore in longboats and skirmishing with the "Indians" in full view of a grandstand full of spectators then pressing onward until they reached Bradenton, where they would raid the county courthouse. Today they capture the De Soto Square Mall.
Other festival events include a children's parade, a grand parade, a bottle boat regatta, and a seafood fest with live entertainment, arts and crafts, and boat cruises with the conquistadores.
Hernando De Soto Historical Society
910 Third Ave. W.
Bradenton, FL 34205
941-747-1998; fax: 941-747-7953
www.desotohq.com
GdUSFest-1984, p. 33