Downtown Plant City will feature a full day of family fun on April 13 as the community gathers for the beloved RailFest and the second annual Praise in the Park On Common Ground.
Early Saturday morning guests will flock to McCall Park and the Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum for the annual RailFest event.
The festive train-themed event always has an abundance of activities for families and even has a special appearance from H.B. Plant. Children love taking in the train cars on display and pressing their face against the glass in the museum while adults sit back and enjoy learning more about the railcars that put Plant City on the map.
There are bounce houses, goodie bags, train rides and more in honor of the special event. The museum is also debuting a new Plant City Railroad layout of its HO scale model train. A legendary auction of unique railroad items as well as community donated pieces always draws a crowd toward the end of the event and will feature the fifth annual Golden Spike Award and the third annual Little Spike Award.
Just as RailFest begins to wrap up its festivities, Praise in the Park On Common Ground will pull into the station.
“Last year we followed on the heels of RailFest and we estimated there were over a thousand people there throughout our event,” Frank Trunzo, owner of Krazy Kup and creator of Praise in the Park, said. “This year we’ve doubled in size. Our event is going to be spread over two blocks and feature around 25 performers.”
Praise in the Park kicked off last year after Trunzo had a dream to create a Christian music festival in the heart of Plant City. Despite it being the first time the city’s ever experienced an event of that caliber the seats remained filled at the stage and guests constantly flowed in and out of downtown.
This year the stakes are raised and Trunzo is partnering with Pastor Joe Kelley and the Common Ground Movement, an event that aims to unite Christian youth in the area. Now Praise in the Park will stretch from the train depot down to the very edge of McCall Park and will even have performances at the building located at 201 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd the Trunzo’s are renovating to create their upcoming performance pizzeria.
From around 3 to 9 p.m. downtown will be filled with faith-based entertainment from all genres and attendees will be able to experience music ranging from rap to rock to traditional gospel. Non-music performers are also slotted to showcase their talents at the event.
When you walk up to the train depot there will be a stage set up with bands showing off their skills throughout the day. While strolling down McCall Park you’ll find an acoustic or solo performer at the gazebo and another group of performers toward the end of the park at a platform managed by Kelley. The future pizzeria will also have some high-quality bands showing off their skills throughout the night. Woven among the performances are an abundance of activities for young and old alike. Face painters, balloon artists, stilt walkers, a life size puppet show and a staged puppet show, bounce houses and a variety of hand-picked food trucks will all be peppered throughout downtown.
There will even be a world champion magician entertaining the crowds for part of the event. Vendors will also be lining the streets with unique merchandise for the attendees.
Praise in the Park is hoping to help the local Pregnancy Care Center. A premier LEGO Disney castle will be raffled off and tickets will run $5 each. All the proceeds will go the the Pregnancy Care Center. The food trucks are donating 10 percent of their profit to the cause. There will also be a “fun auction” at the event and attendees will be able to be part of free drawings for more than 20 gift cards.
“Our goals are lofty,” Trunzo said. “Having the caliber of entertainment we have, it’s so rare to see at a Plant City event. There’s a lot of remarkable talent in the area and we’re grateful to be able to showcase some of the hidden gems here. You always have to step back and appreciate their sincerity. They’re performing, yes, but they’re worshiping and you can see that.”
The bands are all hailing from the local proximity and Trunzo said there is a wealth of talent in the area and the local faith based community that few could ever truly fathom. The biggest concern in his book is Florida’s unpredictable weather.
The event is still in search of a few more sponsors and any interested in helping bring the massive event to life should call Trunzo at 813-789-4227 or Kelley at 813-344-7361.
