Need a new hobby? Well, there's this.
Courtesy Carley Sumner
You may enter 2027 with absolutely no clue what to do with your free time. Broward’s newest festival plans to send you home with several worthy contenders.
The inaugural Hobby Fest & Fair will go down at Volunteer Park Community Center in Plantation on Saturday, January 30, 2027, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Arriving right when those New Year’s resolutions could use reinforcements, the event will gather activities, classes, clubs and community programs in one convenient spot.
This is no standard browse-and-buy affair, y’all. Guests will be encouraged to grab the supplies, join a demonstration, test an activity and talk directly with the people who teach it. Programming will span arts and crafts, movement, wellness, education, volunteering and social connection, with options geared toward children, adults and entire families.
Confirmed exhibitors as provided to Browardist already include South Florida Sewing, the Rotary Club of Broward, Paint the Grain and School of Rock. Organizers are also recruiting pickleball, dance and golf coaches, tutors, gyms, arts programs, instructors, artists, clubs and nonprofit organizations. A curated marketplace will feature hobby-related products, services and experiences, too.
“We want Hobby Fest to become the place where someone can walk in saying, ‘I don’t know what I want to do,’ and leave with three things they’re excited to try,” founder Carley Sumner said in an event announcement.
Sumner is also the creator of The Flamingo Flea, the Fort Lauderdale-born handmade market she launched at Tarpon River Brewing in 2019. Its debut gathered 45 vendors and nearly 1,000 guests. The concept later expanded across South Florida, connecting shoppers with local artists, vintage sellers, makers and small businesses. The Flamingo Flea was named Miami New Times’ Best Flea Market in 2024, giving Sumner ample experience morphing local talent into a crowd magnet.
For event updates or exhibitor information, visit flamingoflea.com/hobbyfestandfair.
