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Every year for about two weeks in the springtime, when the azaleas burst into the full glory of their bloom, the quiet beauty of Tallahassee's rolling hills reaches up into the spectacular. Until 1968 there had never been a spring festival to allow Tallahasseeans to share this beauty with others, but in that year a growing sense of all there is to Tallahassee, in tradition and in the present, led to what was at first called the Apalachee Jubilee, subsequently Springtime Tallahassee. The calendar of events including plays, concerts, tours of homes, flower shows, a golf tournament and horse show. The purpose of the organization was set forth: "to emphasize the natural beauty and historical significance of the area, to promote interest in educational, cultural, and recreational activities and the unification of the town and gown." All organizations, both universities, and the general public participated in the combined effort, which culminated in a horse drawn parade of historical personages and a pageant depicting the history of Tallahassee. These festivities met with such enthusiasm that Springtime Tallahasse, Inc. was founded to sponsor the festival and provide the means for the creative activties which were to be largely the work of volunteers. Each year since 1968 the festivities have grown in scope and enthusiasm. Tallahasseeans look forward to many more great festivals in the hope that visitors from all over Florida and the nation will come to share Tallahassee and its heritage with them in the beauty of springtime.

History Of Tallahassee
Tallahassee country was first known as Apalachee, the land of quiet spring and flowers whose beauty was known to the Europeans long before Jamestown or the other colonies.
In an early account "Tallahassee County" was described as a place entirely unlike any part of the United States; so near the seaboard yet it resembles the high land above the falls of the rivers in the Atlantic States. The natural open groves of oaks and magnolias, hickory and beech, surpassed in magnificence the proudest parks of the English nobility. This was the home of the Apalachee Indians, a tribe that is now extinct.
On St. John's Day in 1528, footsore and weary, a group of Spaniards led by Panfilo de Narvaez entered the land of the Apalachees seeking gold. Discouraged with their lack of success they turned southward to St. Marks and met eventual destruction. The Spanish expedition was only an unpleasant memory to the Indians.
In 1539 Hernando DeSoto landed at Tampa Bay and proceeded northward with a thousand men among whom were several priests. DeSoto established a friendship with some of the Indians despite their early misgivings. It is believed that the first Christmas mass in the new world was celebrated by DeSoto and his entourage near Lake Jackson in Tallahassee country since he arrived in October 1539 and remained until March, 1540. The first Christmas Mass is important to note because it was the beginning of the Christian traditions in the U.S. that has grown through the centuries.
In the middle of the seventeenth century the Franciscan Friars came to Tallahassee with their main objective to Christianize the Apalachée Indians. The Friars found the early Indians friendly; their main livelihood derived from agriculture. They established several missions in Florida but the most important of the missions was San Luis which was located in the area west of old Tallahassee San Luis Mission was important because it became the center of Spanish culture and the church of western Florida. It was the pride of Old Spain
During the last half of the seventeenth century the Apalachee Indians, in villages with their own parish church, were protected by á garrison of Spanish soldiers. The Spanish and the English were continually trying to make inroads into the other's territory. The Spanish encouraged the Apalachee Indians allies to organize a series of expeditions into British Georgia.