Florida has its own unique food scene that we love to celebrate. The entire state is just packed with Florida Food Festivals that celebrate just about every type of seafood, citrus fruit, and sweet berry that’s found in Florida. While we couldn’t fit them all in here, there are some that stand out for the uniqueness or just something that could only happen in Florida. Here are 15 unique Florida Food Festivals to check out in 2020.
Kumquat Festival
Dade City, the Kumquat Capital of the World, is another town that’s famous for producing a tiny little Florida fruit. Never had a kumquat? Come see what you’re missing at this festival that’s all about this small citrus fruit that comes in two varieties; sweet or sour.
The Dade City Kumquat Festival features over 400 vendors selling kumquat jams, salsas, pies, ice cream, and even a kumquat beer that goes down really nice on a hot Florida day. This event brings thousands of people to downtown Dade City to celebrate this tart little fruit that you can eat with the skin on.
Where: Dade City, FL
When: January 25, 2020
Website: http://kumquatfestival.org
Blue Crab Fest
This part of the Florida panhandle catches a lot of Blue Crabs, and they’ve been celebrating the local Blue Crab industry with this festival since 1975. This waterfront festival kicks off with a parade and then you can enjoy as much delicious crab as you can handle. There’s also live music, fireworks, a mullet toss, and crab picking contest.
Where: Panacea, Florida
When: May 2nd, 2020
Website: http://www.bluecrabfest.com
South Florida Garlic Festival
The Best Stinkin’ Party in South Florida! The Garlic Fest is a music and food festival with a gourmet alley food area serving up more than 100 garlicy menu items. Like – flaming garlic shrimp scampi, garlic crab cakes, garlic bruschetta, garlic pizza, garlic Argentine BBQ with garlic black beans and rice, garlic Portobello sandwiches…and even garlic ice cream!
This year’s music headliner include The Wailers, G-Love and Special Sauce, along with a number of other DJ’s, reggae and jam band artists. This is a BIG event that brings in nearly 20k people each year
Where: Lake Worth, Florida
When: February 8th & 9th, 2020
Website: https://garlicfestfl.com
Florida Strawberry Festival
Plant City is the Strawberry Capital of the World! Or to get even more specific, it’s the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. More than 75% of the nation’s winter strawberries are grown in this town just a little east of Tampa. To celebrate the sweet little berry, Plant City throws a party each year the rivals the Florida State Fair. Some even sort of consider the Plant City Strawberry Festival to be the State Fair 2.0, as it kicks off shortly after the other fair has ended.
While the Strawberry Festival does serve up just about every strawberry-infused dish you could think of, this is a festival that’s even more famous for its music. Each year the slate is filled with some big known artists that draw a crowd from all over the state. Taylor Swift, John Legend, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash are just a few of the A-List performers who’ve played this festival.
This year’s lineup includes Reba McEntire, 98 Degrees, Josh Turner, and even Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Where: Plant City, FL
When: February 27th to March 8th, 2020
Website: https://flstrawberryfestival.com
Cuban Sandwich Festival
The sandwich so nice they’re holding a festival for it twice. The Cuban sandwich will be honored at two festivals both being run by the same promoter. The first one is in Kissimmee on March 27th where they’ll attempt to break a world record by building a 190 foot long Cuban Sandwich. The second one will be in the (disputed) birthplace of the Cuban Sandwich; Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood on March 29th.
Both festivals will feature live music, art, and lots of Cuban Sandwiches to go around.
Where: Tampa & Kissimmee, Florida
When: March 7th (Kissimmee) & March 29th (Tampa)
Website: http://www.thecubansandwichfestival.com
Speckled Perch Festival
Okeechobee, Florida is the Speckled Perch Capital of the World! This fish, also known as a crappie to some is so beloved here they’ve been holding a festival in it’s honor since 1965. Festival attendees can eat some good fried fish, see some local live music, and check out some local artists. There’s also an antique car show, and even a parade in this tasty fish’s honor.
Where: Okeechobee, FL
When: March 14 & 15, 2020
Website: http://www.okeechobeemainstreet.org
Festa Italiana
While Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood may be most famous for it’s Cuban roots, the area has historically been home to a large number of Italian immigrants too. Each spring Ybor City holds a big party to honor its Italian culture with a huge selection of wine, Italian food, and desserts.
Every year this festival hosts a bocce ball tournament, homemade wine competition, and a grape stomp!
Where: Tampa, Florida
When: April 4th & 5th, 2020
Website: http://www.festaitalianatampa.com
Blueberry Festival
Keel Farms in Plant City is one of only a few Florida vineyards in the state, and each year they celebrate the spring blueberry festival at this big family-friendly event. There’s plenty of blueberry infused treats, blueberry picking, food trucks, live entertainment and of course, plenty of beer and wine being served on site.
Where: Plant City, Florida
When: April 6 & 7 and April 13 & 14, 2020
Website: http://www.keelfarms.com/bbfest
Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival
The Isle of Eight Flags Festival, so named for the eight different nations that once laid claim to Amelia Island, is one of the biggest seafood festivals in the country. The waters off the coast of Amalia are absolutely teeming with shrimp so shrimping is a big business around here. This is a festival where you can find shrimp just about any way you could imagine; fried, on skewers, in salads, in gumbo, on sandwiches, and in pies.
Of course, there’s a parade, but there’s also a shrimp boat decorating contest, live music, an arts festival, and Shrimp Run 5K so you can burn off some of the great food you’ll be eating. This is one of the most famous Florida Food Festivals of the year.
Where: Fernandina Beach, Florida
When: May 1st-3rd, 2020
Website: https://www.shrimpfestival.com
Crawfish Festival
Each May Pensacola hosts one of the biggest crawfish boils in the entire Southeast! This year they’ll be cooking up over 16,000 lbs fresh Louisiana crawfish to create cajun treats like jambalaya, etouffee, gumbo, and crawfish pie. There will also be fresh fish, gator, po boys and so much more cajun cooking to try. There’s even a crawfish eating contest if you really, really love to eat these guys.
The festival is free and located right behind the Pensacola Blue Wahoo’s ballpark.
Where: Pensacola, Florida
When: May 8 – May 10, 2020
Website: https://www.fiestapensacola.org/crawfish-festival
Zucchini Festival
The small north Florida town of Windsor calls itself the “Zucchini Capital of the World“, and they’ve been celebrating their famous squash for over 35 years. This fesival, of course, has lots of zucchini dishes, but have you ever tried Zucchini Ice Cream? Here’s your big chance. The festival also crowns the Duke of Zuke, and the Zuqueenie at the annual pageant. There’s the Cook-a-Zuke contest, live music, hayrides and contests for the biggest, ugliest and best-carved zucchinis.
Where: Windsor, Florida
When: May 11, 2019
Website: http://www.windsor-z-news.org/events.html
Key Lime Festival
Every 4th of July weekend Key West holds a BIG party in honor of Florida’s official state pie. The Key West Key Lime Festival has pie eating and pie-making contests, the Key Lime Bar Sip & Stroll, a talent show full of eccentric “only in Key West” characters, the Key Lime Pie Hop, and tastings of locally distilled lime-flavored rum. There’s a scavenger hunt that will have you running all over the island, and a “Key Lime Pie Drop” where contestants will be throwing pies off the Key West Lighthouse in hopes that their homemade contraptions will keep their pie (mostly) intact. And since it’s 4th of July, of course, there’s a fireworks show.
Where: Key West, Florida
When: July 2nd – 5th, 2020
Website: http://www.keylimefestival.com
Key West Lobsterfest
The biggest annual summer party in Key West! Every year Key West celebrates the opening of Lobster Season by throwing the biggest party of the summer. This year there’s a Lobster Boil at the Waterfront Brewery, the Lobsterfest Duval Pub Crawl, Lobster Brunch, a street fair and free concerts by some of Key West’s best local artists.
This year the mini-season falls on July 29th and 30th, but make sure to always verify dates and regulations with Florida Fish and Wildlife. It begins at 12:01 am on Wednesday and ends at 12:00 midnight on Thursday. The regular 8 month lobster season is always August 6 through March 31.
Where: Key West, Florida
When: August 6-9, 2020
Website: http://www.keywestlobsterfest.com
Florida Scallop, Music & Arts Festival
We love food festivals that put just as much importance on the music as the food, and the Florida Scallop, Music & Arts Festival put out a loaded lineup of local artists every year. Enjoy rocking out to the tunes with a plateful of fried scallops, and take home some frozen scallops to use in your own favorite recipe.
Where: Port St. Joe, Florida
When: TBD in late August
Website: http://scallopfestfl.org
The Great Chowder Debate
Every year thousands of chowderheads descend on St. Augustine to take part in the crowning of Florida’s chowder champion. Over 30 restaurants compete for prizes in a bunch of different chowder categories and you can help decide who takes home the trophy. The Great Chowder Debate also has live music and fun events for everybody.
Where: St. Augustine, Florida
When: November 1st, 2020
Website: http://conch-house.com/chowder-debate
We know there are a LOT of Florida food festivals happening all over the state, so if you have a favorite please tell us about it in the comments! We want to know all about your favorite Florida food festivals!