Bartow Turns into ToonTown with This Year’s Syfy Bartow—Animation Invasion—on Sat. Feb. 21
by James Coulter
Attention all Toonsters, Loonatics, and Animaniacs! The City of Bartow will be transforming into ToonTown with this year’s Syfy Bartow, happening on Sat. Feb. 21.
Whether you prefer your cartoons hand-drawn or computer-animated, in Technicolor or black-and-white, from America or Japan, this year’s Syfy Bartow is sure to squash and stretch your expectations.
Come to Mosaic Park for a fun-filled day with local vendors, food trucks, human and pet costume contests, a car show, and so much more.
Sean Serdynski started Syfy Bartow nearly 12 years ago. Since then, Central Florida’s premier outdoor comic convention has drawn in thousands of guests to Downtown Bartow.
“Syfy Bartow started as a way to get people to visit Downtown Bartow,” Serdynski said. “We invented it to help the businesses downtown and all throughout Bartow. It’s not just about Downtown, it is the entire city that gets involved.”
Since then, the event has expanded from one city block to 15 blocks. Now that their footprint has outgrown the Downtown Bartow area, their event will be moving to its new location at Mosaic Park.
Serdynski had originally planned to host the inaugural Syfy Bartow at that location. However, he was convinced by city officials to host the event in the downtown area to promote local businesses.
Previous events struggled with traffic cutting through the festivities and restrictions on amenities like bounce houses and petting zoos. The new location will provide more room for more fun activities and provide better comfort to guests.
“One thing that keeps Syfy Bartow unique from the other type of convention-style events is that it is free to attend,” he said. “You can spend the day with your family and see what Bartow is allabout.”
Syfy Bartow will be hosted on Sat. Feb. 21 from 10 AM to 6 PM at Mosaic Park, located at 2250 S Floral Ave in Bartow. For more information, visit bartowcon.com.
