Deck the Halls With Red: Tomato, Heritage Festival Set for December Run

Greater Brandonites enjoy strawberrys in the spring, with Plant City to the east, and now, in time for the holiday season, tomatoes in the fall, with Ruskin to the south.

The Ruskin Tomato & Heritage Festival returns after 18 months with a new time of year, cooler temperatures, plentiful locally grown tomatoes, rides and games for the kids and a “build-it” workshop with Team Home Depot.

Festival dates and times are Dec. 3, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Dec. 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the E.G. Simmons County Park in Ruskin.

Organizers say this year’s “Old Florida” festival, “in a town old enough to make that claim,” features also hands-on nature activities at Camp Bayou and an exit gift of a Tasti-Lee tomato seedling to grow your own at home.

Feast on fried green tomatoes, turkey legs, frog legs, hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, ices and donuts. Beer is on tap for the first time as well. Enjoy free tomato slices, while supplies last.

Entertainment on the Sweeney Family stage includes bluegrass and folk tunes. From noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, a youth group is set to perform in the Prodigy Showcase, along with other local talent.

Shop for holiday gifts and home décor with a variety of craft and commercial vendors. Shop for produce at the farmer's market.

E.G. Simmons County Park is at 2401 19th Ave. N.W. in Ruskin. Cost is $5 per person; children under age 12, free. The festival is run in partnership with the Ruskin Community Development Foundation and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation.

Plan ahead, too, for the Florida Strawberry Festival, which is schedueld for March 1-11, at the Strawberry Festival Grounds in Plant City, at 303 North Lemon Street.