The Florida Seafood Festival is an annual two-day public event held in Apalachicola, Florida on the first weekend of November. [1] The event is held in Battery Park, and around 25,000 people attend the festival every year. [2] [3] It is the oldest seafood festival in the state. [4]
In 1963, eight members of the Apalachicola Chamber of Commerce gathered to figure out a way to draw more visitors to the town. [4] The idea of a seafood event was brought up, drawing inspiration from a seafood festival, "Harbor Days" which had been held in Apalachichola in 1915. [4] The Florida Seafood Festival was established in 1964. [5]
The 2010 Florida Seafood Festival Oyster Shucking Champion Mike Martin won the 2010 National Oyster Shucking Championship. [4] In 2012 an estimated 30,000 people attended the event. [4] The festival celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013. [4]
There was no Florida Seafood Festival in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] The event returned in 2021. [2]
In 2022, Hurricane Ian caused the carnival ride provider to cancel. [7]
Each year the festival features a parade (which has been held on the same route since its 1964 inception), [4] carnival, blue crab races, oyster eating and shucking contests. [1] [8] The festival also offers a 5 kilometres (3.107 mi) road race, a country music concert, arts and craft booths, and plenty of fresh local seafood. [8] [9] The local seafood is prepared by local non-profit groups.
On the Friday night of the festival, the King Restyo Ball is held to crown the king and queen of the festival. [4]
Apalachicola is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,341 at the 2020 census.
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not all oysters, are in the superfamily Ostreoidea.
Urbanna is a town in Middlesex County, Virginia, United States. Urbanna means “City of Anne” and was named in honor of England's Queen Anne. The population was 476 at the 2010 census.
St. George Island is an island and Census-designated place (CDP) off the Florida Panhandle in the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is in Franklin County, Florida, United States.
A raw bar is a small restaurant or a bar within a restaurant where live shellfish are shucked and served. Raw bars typically offer a variety of raw and cooked seafood and shellfish that is served cold. Seafood-based dishes may also be offered, and additional, non-seafood foods may also be part of the fare. Raw bars may offer alcoholic beverages such as oyster shooters, as well as wine and sake that is paired with various foods. Additional accompaniments may include condiments, sauces and foods such as lemon and lime. Several restaurants in the United States offer raw bars, some of which are seasonal.
The Norwalk Oyster Festival is an annual fair in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, held on the first weekend after Labor Day in Veterans Park, near Long Island Sound.
Apalachicola Bay is an estuary and lagoon located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The Apalachicola Bay system also includes St. George Sound, St. Vincent Sound and East Bay, covering an area of about 208 square miles (540 km2). Four islands, St. Vincent Island to the west, Cape St. George Island and St. George Island to the south, and Dog Island to the east, separate the system from the Gulf of Mexico. Water exchange occurs through Indian Pass, West Pass, East Pass and the Duer Channel. The lagoon has been designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Apalachicola River is the largest source of freshwater to the estuary. Combined with the Chattahoochee River, Flint River, and Ochlockonee River they drain a watershed of over 20,000 square miles (50,000 km2) at a rate of 19,599 cubic feet per second according to the United States Geological Survey in 2002.
The Galway International Oyster Festival is a food festival held annually in Galway on the west coast of Ireland on the last weekend of September, the first month of the oyster season. Inaugurated in 1954, it was the brainchild of the Great Southern Hotel manager, Brian Collins. In 2000 was described by the Sunday Times as "one of the 12 greatest shows on earth" and was listed in the 1987 AA Travel Guide as one of Europe's Seven Best Festivals.
Fiesta San Antonio is an annual festival held in April in San Antonio, Texas, and is the city's signature event since 1891. The festival, also known as the Battle of Flowers, commemorates of the Battle of the Alamo, which took place in San Antonio, and the Battle of San Jacinto, which led to Texas' independence from Mexico in April 1836.
An oyster festival is a food festival centered on the oyster. There are a number of oyster festivals worldwide, including the following:
The Yarmouth Clam Festival is an annual three-day event which takes place in Yarmouth, Maine, starting on the third Friday every July. Established in 1965 as a successor to the town's late-August Old Home Week, it is hosted by the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce, with the aim of raising money for approximately thirty local non-profit organizations, churches, and school groups. The event draws visitors from all over the country. As a result, Yarmouth, a town with a population of around 9,000, accommodates approximately 80,000 people over the course of the weekend. A section of the former population have made it a tradition to stake out their Friday-evening parade viewpoint with a chair several weeks before the event — even as early as May, though this may be in an ironic fashion.
Milford Oyster Festival, sometimes shortened to "Oysterfest," is an annual cultural festival held on the third Saturday of August throughout the city of Milford, Connecticut. As a major tourist attraction, billed as the largest one-day festival in the New England region and listed among the top 10 annual events in Connecticut, the Oyster Festival draws over 50,000 attendees each year. It is planned by the non-profit organization Annual Milford Oyster Festival, inc. (AMOF), largely run by volunteers.
The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in reference to the city's oyster industry and seafood heritage. The Shuckers play their home games at Keesler Federal Park.
The Hong Kong Food Festival is a food festival organised by the Hong Kong Asia Exhibition (Holdings) Limited. It is held annually at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, selling and promoting a variety kinds of food, drinks, snacks and many more. There are different zones for various kind of customers.
The Parish was a Cajun, Louisiana Creole, and seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States. It was opened by Tobias Hogan and Ethan Powell in 2012, and became known for its oysters. In 2015, the restaurant was split in half, and one side of the space began serving brunch, lunch, and happy hour as the Palmetto Cafe. The Palmetto was converted into a private event space and pop-up restaurant in February 2016, and The Parish closed abruptly in September of that year.
Flying Fish Company is a sustainable seafood company which operates a fish market, restaurant, and food cart in Portland, Oregon.
Jack's Fish Spot is a fish market and seafood bar at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Bevans Oyster Company is an oyster farm and seafood aquaculture company headquartered in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The company has been described as one of the largest oyster companies in the State of Virginia.