21th Annual Dunedin Mardi Gras Festival & Event

Event History

The first Dunedin Wines the Blues event took place in November of 1992 with the idea of finding another way to promote the Downtown area and its Merchants. It part of other Dunedin Events and was originally conceived by Gregory Brady from Gregory's Salon, Bob Moore from the original 1477 Lounge, Kathy Carlson and Virgil from Kelly's Chic a Boom Room & Restaurant.

At that time Dunedin had just formed the Downtown Merchants Association and needed another event in the fall of that year to compliment a successful Mardi Gras. At the same time the City of Dunedin, through Bob Ironsmith, wanted to promote the idea of Live, Work, and Play in Dunedin in order to encourage more people to come to Dunedin, Florida.

From there is grew into a major event that takes place every year in Dunedin. According to the Pinellas county sheriff’s department, attendance at the Dunedin Mardi Gras has been in excess of 30,000 each year for the last 10 years increasing steadily over the last 18 years of it’s existence. Attendees begin arriving to set up in the park as early as 4:00pm and the bulk of the attendees spend three to five hours at the event which enjoys the largest crowd from the hours of 7:00pm – 11:00pm when wine service and main stage entertainment ceases.

The largest demographic for this crowd lies in the 25 – 65 year old category. This event is hoping to grow in scope and size over the next few years into a two- or possibly three-day event.

2008	2009
2010	2011