Arts & Entertainment
101st Annual Chasco Fiesta Festival Continues Through April 1
Headline entertainers are Steppenwolf lead guitarist Michael Monarch, Starship lead singer Mickey Thomas and Babys lead singer John Waite.
NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — New Port Richey's largest annual festival and one of Tampa Bay's oldest festivals, the 101st Chasco Fiesta festival kicks off Friday and runs through April 1, offering nine days of live music, parades, entertainment, food, an art show, a car show, a carnival, a 5K run, golf and bowling tournaments and a Native American festival.
Tasked with the responsibility of raising funds to build a community library in New Port Richey, Gerben DeVries, the city's first postmaster, launched the first Chasco Fiesta in 1922 with a focus on the history and culture of the Native American tribes that originally settled the area around the Pithlachascotee River.
More than a century later, the festival has stayed true to its original mission while adding events that have resulted in the festival's board of directors expanding it to a nine-event that now attracts an estimated 150,000 people, according to Chasco Fiesta Inc., organizers of the nonprofit event.
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Today the festival focuses on "Enhancing lives through cultural education and the performing arts" while helping to raise money for 20 nonprofit community organizations.
While a lot has changed about the festival through the decades, there are aspects of Gerben DeVries' original vision that have become festival traditions, including the annual street parade, the third largest in the state; the boat parade, the state's second longest-running boat parade; and the coronation of King Pithla and Queen Chasco Friday night.
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In recent years, one of the festival's biggest draws has been its live music performances by top national and Tampa Bay music artists performing bluegrass, blues, country, Latin, Christian, rock and roll and Native American at Sims Park in New Port Richey. And this year is no exception.
Headline concerts featuring national performers include the Starship with lead singer Mickey Thomas and special guest John Waite, former lead singer of The Babys, roots blues band Memphis Lightning, country musicians David Nail and Drake Milligan, Double Vision - The Foreigner Experience, Odyssey - A Tribute to Journey, and The Peyton Monarch Band featuring Michael Monarch, the original lead guitarist for Steppenwolf, and power vocalist Jimmy Peyton.
Michael Monarch's guitar playing perhaps best captures the spirit of the 1960s. His work with the iconoclastic band Steppenwolf remains a hallmark of the band's unique mixture of psychedelic and rock. As the original guitarist for Steppenwolf, Monarch played on all the band's hits including "Born to be Wild," "Magic Carpet Ride," "Rock Me" and "The Pusher." The Peyton Monarch Band will perform Sunday, March 26 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and Tuesday, March 28 from 6 to 7 p.m. at Sims Park on Grand Boulevard and Bank Street, New Port Richey.
Popular Tampa Bay artists and bands performing this year include The Black Honkeys, The Bearded Brothers, The Monkeybone Band, Brother Brownlow, Black Horse Calvary, Crossfire Creek, Aramis Sol Carib, the Embry Brothers Band and Jams Jones.
Reserved admission tickets to the concerts are in addition to the $5 festival entry fee. For tickets and a complete schedule of the festival's music lineup, click here.
Festival-goers can also look forward to:
Chasco Fiesta Carnival each day of the festival
Chasco Fiesta Native American Festival each day of the festival featuring the Sawgrass Southeastern Living History exhibition and performances by Lowery Begay on the flute, the Aztec Fire Dancers and CreeActive Native American Dancers, a Tipi demonstration by Katrina Fisher, alligator wrestling and a reptile show and performances by Shelly Morningson and Fabian Fontanelle.
Meares Plumbing Chasco Fiesta Parade hosted by the Rotary Club of Holiday on Saturday, March 25 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Chasco Car, Truck and Bike Show from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 26 on Grand Boulevard in downtown New Port Richey.
Chasco Fiesta Bowling Tournament March 28 at 5:30 p.m. at Lane Glo South, 8631 Old County Road 54, New Port Richey.
Chasco Fiesta Golf Tournament March 30 at 1 p.m. at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club.
Special Olympics 5K and 1-Mile Walk April 1 from 8 t0 10 a.m. at the New Port Richey Recreation and Aquatic Center.
Chasco Fiesta Art Show hosted by the Pasco Fine Arts Council from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 1 at Sims Park.
Freedom Boat Club Chasco Fiesta Boat Parade hosted by the Rotary Club of New Part Richey April 1 from 1 to 4 p.m.
In addition, the West Pasco Sertoma Club will serve up barbecue beef and chicken on specified days during the festival.
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