Events and Festivals

Following the period in Sanford's history known as the "Decade of Disasters" which starting with a bakery fire in 1887, which destroyed  much of the city's east side, including many of the wooden buildings along first street. A state-wide yellow fever epidemic in 1888 further depleted the city's population. The financial collapse of 1893, hit Florida investors hard, as did the "Great Freeze" of 1894-95, which destoryed the region's citrus crop. However by the turn of the century Sanford experienced a boom in construction which would culminate with the construction of the Seminole County Courthouse in 1913. This festival represents the prosperity that the Celery City had started to achieve during the boom period between 1897 and 1913.