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Trade Magazine Ranks LeMoyne Festival Nation's Best

LeMoyne Foundation

Local officials are gloating after a prominent trade journal named Tallahassee’s annual LeMoyne Art Festival the best in the nation.

The magazine “Sunshine Artist” put the April event in Tallahassee’s downtown chain of parks at the top of a list of 100 fine arts and design shows nationwide, based on artist sales.

City Commissioner Gil Ziffer claimed bragging rights at hastily called press conference.

“We can say we have the No. 1 event in the country, which is really special. And that’s done, amazingly enough, it’s volunteer driven. Which is really quite incredible. And there are so many people engaged with this and involved with this, so being No. 1 is really quite special.”

Officials say the event drew 33,000 visitors and generated $1.4 million in local economic impact.

It also raised $95,000 for the non-profit foundation that operates the Le Moyne museum.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.