Pub Crawl Saturday Night To Benefit Chalk Fest

If there’s two things Harborites love, it’s bars and art.

So last year the organizers of the Bloom N Art N Chalk Festival decided to combine the two into one giant smorgasbord of fun, plopping a pub crawl smack dab in the middle of the annual downtown Safety Harbor art festival.

But Bobbie Wheeler and Stacy Roth quickly realized by having the crawl in the midst of the fest they couldn’t raise money for the event, which itself is a fundraiser for the Museum and Cultural Center.

“We did this last year on the Saturday night during Chalk Fest,” Wheeler said. “But this year we decided to we were going to do it beforehand to raise money for the festival.” 

“We use the money earned from pub crawl tee shirt sales to help the artists, because we don’t pay them to come here,” Roth added. 

This is the sixth crawl in the Safety Harbor series that was started a couple of years ago by Roth and former Heather’s Place owner Heather Hildick.

This incarnation, dubbed the Arzty Fartzy Pub Crawl in honor of the festival, will begin at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa Tiki bar at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Other participating establishments include Nolan’s Pub; Bar Fly Saltwater Grill; 8^th Avenue Pub; Copperheads Tap House; and the Nantucket Bucket. 

“The pub crawl is a way to help my friends and the local businesses, and to raise money for the festival,” Roth, who creates the logos for the tee shirts, said.

“Plus we like to have fun!” Wheeler added. 

There are a limited amount of shirts still available, at a cost of $12 for short sleeved and $18.00 for long sleeved. Visit their Facebook page for ordering information. 

Individuals or businesses that want to contribute to the festival, which takes place on March 23-24, can do anything from sponsoring an artist to buying boxes of chalk.

In addition the organizers want people to know they are still looking for artists to participate in Chalk Fest - they’ve put out a call for artists, which you can read here.

“We’re looking for artists - families with kids who are into art, church groups, anyone who wants to participate,” Brian Feist, owner of Brian’s Barbershop, said.

“They don't have to be huge pieces. But the more people who participate, the better it is for the event.”

For more information on the Bloom N Art N Chalk Fest visit the wesbite, www.bloomnchalkfest.com

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