Snow Fest Sarasota offers a taste of a white Christmas

Most kids who grow up in Florida can only dream of a white Christmas.

Kids in the Bradenton area are lucky. They get to enjoy Florida's wonderfully warm December weather and, thanks to Snow Fest Sarasota, they get to revel in snow for at least a couple of days a year.

Those days are this Friday and Saturday, as Snow Fest Sarasota returns to downtown Sarasota, at Ringling Shopping Center across from Payne Park.

Kids (and adults who are in a playful frame of mind) can frolic in the snow even as the temperature approached 80 degrees. Besides a daily snowfall, the event features giant snow slides, pictures with Santa, snowman-building and a giant snow globe. Kids who discover they don't care much for snow still have plenty of stuff to do. Snow Fest offers pony rides, live entertainment from groups such as the Candy Cane Hula Hoopers and the Jelly Bean Jugglers, a kids' amusement area and music from DJ Grinch. Vendors will offer food and beverages for adults and kids.

Best of all, it's free for kids, though adults have to pay.

Details: Noon-10 p.m. Dec. 18-20, 170 Shopping Ave., Sarasota. Tickets: $7; children age 12 and younger are free. Information: snowfestsarasota.com.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Snow Fest Sarasota offers a taste of a white Christmas ."