Florida Keys Seafood Festival

The 5th Annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival was held on Saturday, January 16, 2010, at Bayview Park in Key West.

For information regarding the Florida Keys Seafood Festival, call Vicki Gale, Event Coordinator, at (305) 872-9026, Fax (305) 292-4415, or e-mail: vickigale@bellsouth.net
or

Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen's Association

PO Box 501404

Marathon, FL 33050-1404

Web site: www.fkcfa.org

or

UF/IFAS/Monroe County Extension Services
1100 Simonton Street, #2-260
Key West, FL 33040
Phone: (305) 292-4501
Fax: (305) 292-4415
E-mail: Thomas-Dawn@MonroeCounty-FL.Gov

2010 Sponsors:

       

More Sponsors:

Stock Island Lobster Company

Eco Products by Footprints

Marine Underwriters

Island Tee Shirt Graphics

Fanci Seafood, Inc.

D & D Seafood Corp.

Dolphin Hydraulics, Inc.

Cudjoe Sales Fishermen's Warehouse

Atlantic & Gulf Fishing Supply Co.

Harvey Knowles

Key West Marine Hardware, Inc.

Ryan Construction Services

Key West Engine Service, Inc.

Raymond James & Associates

Gulf Manufacturing Co.

Carlos Seafood, Inc.

Suburban Propane

Key West Chemical & Paper Supply Co.

Special thanks goes out to:

Gordon Food Service

Clear Channel Radio, Vox Communications, Keys Radio Group, and Radio Ritmo

City of Key West Parks and Recreations Department and Monroe County Public Works

The Education Coalition of Monroe County youth group who did a tireless job of keeping the tables clean

AHEC for providing nurses for the First Aid station

Raffle items donated from: The Midas Touch, Seamark Electronics, West Marine, OnKeyWest.com, Key West Marine Hardware, Sunny Days Charters, Schooner Wharf Bar, Hogfish Bar & Grill, Rusty Anchor, Camille’s Restaurant, Sugarloaf Food Co., Looe Key Dive Center, Art@830, Jan Howell, Mimi Stafford, Janis Childs, Flowers by J&J, Albertsons, Winn-Dixie, Sunset Water Sports, Key Accents, Yours and Mayan Imports, Key West Winery, Tilden’s Scuba Center, and Sea Glass Jewels.

And last, but not least, thanks to the many volunteers behind the scenes and to the fishermen that gave up good weather fishing days to help put this event together.

We hope the community enjoyed it as much as we did.

To preview a "Slide Show" of the 2010 Seafood Festival, click here.

To see the Photo Gallery of the 2010 Seafood Festival, click here.

To see the Photo Gallery of the 2009 Seafood Festival, click here.

To see the Photo Gallery of the 2008 Seafood Festival, click here.

To see the Photo Gallery of the 2007 Seafood Festival, click here.

Origin and Purpose of the
Florida Keys Seafood Festival

The Seafood Festival celebrates our community by bringing families and friends together in a joyful and fun environment to sample the local catch.  This family-friendly event was created to showcase local seafood and the Keys' commercial fishing industry by providing the freshest seafood available. Each year our fishermen and women are proud to offer the community a variety of seafood at reasonable prices.

It is hoped that this festival will become an annual event that people can plan their vacations around, since it conveniently falls on a Saturday, the start of a three-day holiday weekend (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is always the third Monday in January).  We also hope to raise money for the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association (FKCFA), an industry association to use in providing a sustainable future for the many local fisheries within the Florida Keys. With some of the proceeds from the festival, FKCFA sponsors scholarships for children of local fishermen from Key Largo to Key West.

The absence of a seafood festival in Key West has been obvious for many years.  However, it took the devastating hurricane season of 2005 that wiped out 75% of the fishing gear to provide the needed motivation for finally making this now successful event possible. It took the combined efforts of the FKCFA and UF/IFAS/Monroe County Extension Services to make the first festival in 2006 possible.  While the fishermen caught, cleaned, and cooked the seafood, the Extension staff organized and coordinated the logistics.

            The fishermen and their families work hard at preparing the delicious seafood dishes. Not only will we have the best prices in town, we will also have the freshest shrimp, lobster, and two kinds of crab. While most people are familiar with stone crab, we will also have a unique treat with a special food booth serving deep water golden crab.  In addition, you can enjoy conch salad, conch fritters, and conch chowder prepared with local recipes.  Let’s not forget the sweets that will be available like Flan and Key Lime Pie.  And of course libations will be sold as well as soda and water.

            This is a day of fun, food, and music you do not want to miss!

• Back to Extension Home Page