Food & Drink - Florida - page 1098

SUNSHINE STATE FOOD FESTIVALS
Many of Florida's food festivals have the tumultuous air of county fairs, with carnival
rides, music, parades, beauty pageants and any number of wacky, only-in-Florida hap-
penings.
Food Fest!by Joan Steinbacher is the definitive guide; her companion website
( www.foodfestguide.com ) lists festivals for the coming three months.
Everglades Seafood Festival ( www.evergladesseafoodfestival.com ) Everglades City; three-day
weekend, early February. Not just seafood, but gator, frogs legs and snakes, oh my!
Swamp Cabbage Festival ( www.swampcabbagefestival.org ) LaBelle; three-day weekend, late
February. Armadillo races and crowning of the Miss Swamp Cabbage Queen.
Grant Seafood Festival ( www.grantseafoodfestival.com ) Grant; two-day weekend, early March.
This small Space Coast town throws one of Florida's biggest seafood parties.
Florida Strawberry Festival ( www.flstrawberryfestival.com ) Plant City; 11 days, early March.
Since 1930, more than half a million folks come annually to pluck, eat and honor the
mighty berry.
Carnaval Miami ( www.carnaval-miami.org ) Miami; two weeks, early March. Negotiate drag
queens and in-line skaters to reach the Cuban Calle Ocho food booths.
Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival ( www.shrimpfestival.com ) Amelia Island; three-day week-
end, early May. Avast, you scurvy dog! Pirates invade for shrimp and a juried art show.
Palatka Blue Crab Festival ( www.bluecrabfestival.com ) Palatka; four-day Memorial Day week-
end. Hosts the state championship for chowder and gumbo. Yes, it's that good.
Florida Seafood Festival ( www.floridaseafoodfestival.com ) Apalachicola; two days, early
November. Stand way, way back at its signature oyster-shucking and -eating contests.
Ribfest ( www.ribfest.org ) St Petersburg; three days, mid-November. Three words: ribs, rock,
Harleys.
If you love farmers' markets, visit the website of the Florida Dept of Agriculture
( www.florida-agriculture.com ), which has listings for farmers' markets across the state.
From Farm (& Grove) to Table
Florida has worked long and hard to become an agricultural powerhouse, and it's famous
for its citrus. The state is the nation's largest producer of oranges, grapefruits, tangerines
and limes, not to mention mangoes and sugarcane. Scads of bananas, strawberries,
coconuts, avocados (once called 'alligator pears'), and the gamut of tropical fruits and ve-