Thousands came out to enjoy the 54th annual Ocala Arts Festival

Published: Oct. 24, 2021 at 5:46 PM EDT
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OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - From paintings to glasswork and even carvings, there was something for everyone to enjoy at the 54th annual Ocala Arts Festival.

“We wanted to have something so they started with like ten people and just had a small show for downtown and it just kept expanding and expanding and we expanded a lot and 53 years later we’re still here and doing great,” said board member Sagi Asokan.

Tony Eitharong has been displaying his work at the festival since 1977 and said it feels like he’s back at home.

“I feel like this is like a family show for me so I feel like I need to be here for that reason. this is the beginning of my career that I started to do the show. Ocala is one of the top shows so here I am.”

A younger artist, Justin Alsedek from Ocala has been coming to the festival for just three years and said he enjoys being home and showing his artwork.

“It’s to represent town you can see all these people come from all over it’s nice to have people walk through and go oh look our guy is doing it to and I like being able to show that we have some strong artist in town here.”

Officials with the Fine Arts for Ocala said they expected more than 25,000 people this weekend and they’ll be adding new features to the festival for next year.

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