Rain or shine, people and vendors enjoy St. Andrews Mardi Gras
ST. ANDREWS, Fla. (WMBB) — People took out their umbrellas, raincoats, and rainboots and took to the streets in Downtown St. Andrews.
“Rain or shine, that’s right,” a woman in attendance said. “You know, the expression, don’t let anybody rain on your parade. It’s not raining on our parade today.”
While the weather is not the best this year, it did not stop people from gathering along Beck Avenue for the annual Krewe of St. Andrews Mardi Gras Festival.
Each year the festival draws thousands of people and vendors to the area. One vendor returned for her fifth year.
“It’s hosted by the Krewe of St. Andrews, and I’m in a Gasparilla crew in Tampa, so we already know a lot of them and because I do all the pirate festivals, they asked me if I would come to this one so I’ve been doing it and it’s great fun and the pet parade tomorrow is always one of my favorite parts too,” Skull Jewelry and More vendor owner Avril Stern said.
The rain may impact the amount of money she makes but she said it’s just part of being a vendor owner.
“It goes with the territory with what we do as mobile businesses and entrepreneurs,” Stern said. “It’s just the price of doing business, you just write it off as a loss and make it up somewhere else down the road.”
Vendors remained open through the grey clouds on Saturday and will be open again Sunday.
“Come on down and play, we are here and we are ready to take your money,” Stern said. “It’s our job to rob you of your funds.”
A local woman returned to the festival for yet another year.
“Well, we’ve been living here for 20 years, we’ve probably been 15 out of the 20,” Beth Thompson said.
She said the rain won’t stop her from enjoying the festivities.
“It’s just a fun parade,” Thompson said. “Because they said they’re rolling, rain or shine, I bought a parking place over here two months ago and we’re going to go.”
This weekends festival includes several parades, live music performances, and of course many vendors.
On Sunday the fun continues in downtown St. Andrews with a pet parade at 2:30. The festival itself will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m.
Click here for more information.
WATCH THE FULL ST. ANDREWS MARDI GRAS PARADE:
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