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Things to do Planner: Sant' Yago Knight Parade, Tweed Ride, Florida State Fair continues

 
Jim Arnold strikes a pose during the 2015 Sant’ Yago Illuminated Knight Parade in Ybor City. 
Jim Arnold strikes a pose during the 2015 Sant’ Yago Illuminated Knight Parade in Ybor City. 
Published Feb. 10, 2016

BEAD IT: Sant' Yago Illuminated Knight Parade

Just as we are recovering from Gasparilla, the Sant' Yago Illuminated Knight Parade hits the streets of Ybor City Saturday with a night-time parade featuring more than 100 illuminated floats, marching bands, krewes and their royalty. Before the parade at Centro Ybor at 4 p.m. there will be a meet and greet Divorce Court's Judge Lynn Toler, the parade's grand marshal, and Tampa Bay Rays mascots Raymond and DJ Kitty. The parade, which starts at 7 p.m. Saturday with Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier and pitcher Jake Odorizzi in atttendance, heads down Seventh Avenue and Nuccio Parkway, then east on Seventh to 22nd Street, the parade's end. A Crash Party takes place at the Cuban Club after the parade. The parade is free but you can get $25 bleacher seats at knightparade.com.

Divorce Court's Toler, the grand marshal for the bacchanal, told the Times she has been breaking up unsuited people for 10 years, and this is her first real participation in a parade. "I'm so excited. I rarely get to meet people that watch the show," she said.

Read more of Robbyn Mitchell's interview with Toler at tbtim.es/vyh.

SEERSUCKER CYCLE: Tweed Ride

Like a scene from The Great Gatsby, the popular leisurely Tweed Ride 2-9 p.m. Saturday will bring out ladies and gents in derby hats, vests, petticoats, lace-up boots and other fashionable vintage choices for a bike ride around downtown St. Petersburg. Tea and scones will be served before the ride with a game of croquet or two. After the ride, gather at the Mirror Lake St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, 559 Mirror Lake Drive N, for a party with food trucks and music by Buster Cooper. $15-$25. (727) 822-2083.

MIDWAY MADNESS: Florida State Fair

It's Week 2 of the Florida State Fair, full of strange food like the mile-high double barrel burger with doughnut buns and PB&J quesadillas. The entertainment sometimes feels pulled from a deep fryer and loaded on a stick, too. Like the Elvis Extravaganza, right, featuring a bevy of Elvis impersonators at noon Friday through Sunday on the Coca-Cola Stage, not to mention the daily racing pigs and the stunt high dive show. Just as there are still classic corn dogs and funnel cakes, there's classic crowd-pleasers too, including the Budweiser Clydesdales elegantly clip-clopping their way through the fair at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. They are included with admission, as are concerts by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (7 p.m. Friday), the Robert Cray Band (7 p.m. Saturday), Venezuelan singer Ulises Hadjis (6 p.m. Sunday) and country's Colt Ford (6 p.m. Monday). In addition to rides, food, exhibits and animals, the fair guarantees at least 112 free things to do. Admission is $11 weekdays, $13 Saturday and Sunday; $6-$7 for ages 6-11. Open 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily at the Florida State Fairgrounds, 4802 U.S. 301 N, Tampa. (813) 621-7821.