An Insider's Guide To The Cedar Key Seafood Festival

It's that time of year again, the Cedar Key Seafood Festival is almost upon us. Mark your calendar for the weekend of October 21-22, 2017 and come on out for music, food, art, and fun.

While you are putting those dates in your calendar, I'd like to share a few tips that can help you make the most of your visit.

One thing you should know is that unlike most seafood festivals, the Cedar Key Seafood Festival is a nonprofit oriented festival. So you won't see restaurant food trucks or booths at our festival. All of our wonderful seafood restaurants are in walking distance of the festival, but the festival itself is manned mostly by groups from our Cedar Key School family.
The entire festival is organized and made possible by the wonderful Cedar Key Lions Club.
This is our make it or break it fundraiser that allows our students and teachers to pay for field trips, needed equipment, classroom supplies, etc.
EVERYONE working this festival is working for free.

I have worked the festival since coming to teach at Cedar Key School (CKS) almost 6 years ago, so I want to share a few tips to make your visit pleasant and hassle free.

TIP NUMBER 1: MONEY
The food booths are a cash operation.
BRING CASH IN SMALL DENOMINATIONS.
MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE FOOD ITEMS FOR SALE ARE UNDER $10.00. 
In the booths, a string of customers with $20 or $50 bills can wipe out our available change funds. The well prepared visitor will have their festival money in Ones, Fives, and Tens ...but heavy on the ones and fives.
We love ones and fives.

TIP NUMBER 2: PARKING
EARLY BIRDS GET THE FREE PARKING WORMS.
You can expect to pay $10.00 per vehicle for all day parking in easy walking distance of the festival.
The parking folks range from churches trying to raise a few funds to individuals, but they are all friendly and helpful.
You will see their signs as you drive into town.


TIP NUMBER 3: DOGS
LEAVE YOUR POOCH AT HOME, 
...or at least in the air conditioned condo or motel room.
THIS IS NOT ANTI-DOG, just the opposite!
October in Florida can be pretty fickle, ... this week, it has felt much like August. Every year I watch hot, tired dogs navigate the crowds with their owners. Most of them look like they'd rather be anywhere else.

A few years ago, I got tired of watching hot, thirsty dogs pass by, so I set up a dog water station at my CKS Science Department Clam Chowder stand. PLEASE USE IT IF YOU IGNORE THE ADVICE ABOVE.

TIP NUMBER 4: THE SUN
While there is some shade in the park between trees and some canopy areas, you should expect to be exposed to the Sun quite a bit.  As a result, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen are nice to have along.

TIP NUMBER 5: CHOWDER UP!
STOP BY MY CHOWDER BOOTH AND GET A TASTE OF THE BEST CLAM CHOWDER ON THE ISLAND.
When you do, you'll be supporting the Cedar Key School Science Department and making it possible for our kids to go above and beyond the classroom.

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE CEDAR KEY SEAFOOD FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 17 AND 18, 2015.

The Cedar Key Seafood Festival is next weekend, October 17 - 18, 2016, and you REALLY need to be there. There will be a delicious array of seafood delights to savor as well as a wonderful art show.

Plus, all of this is in quaint, old Floridy, quirky, wonderful, Cedar Key, Florida. That's like a huge scoop of ice cream on an already delicious piece of apple pie.

Almost too good to be true.

The festival takes place downtown, all along one main street, with food vendors at the seaside park area while the artists extend from the park through town.

I'll be there slinging 12 oz cups of my REAL Minorcan style clam chowder for $5.00 a cup. 

Come buy some!

All proceeds go to support the Cedar Key School Science Department.

It takes REAL datil peppers, homegrown by me, to make REAL Minorcan style clam chowder.
Lots of flavor and just a little bite.
We sell out every year so this year I'm making more than ever before.
Insider tip: Sometimes, depending on crowd size, food vendors sell out on Sunday afternoon. We are not restaurants and while we try to plan for big crowds, some times the food runs out before the 5:00 hour on Sunday.
Your best bet on Sunday is to be there by lunch time to be safe.
We are all trying to avoid early sell outs, but this is an article about how to enjoy the festival and I'd be amiss if I didn't mention this observation. 

Here are some very practical tips to help you maximize your fun at this great event:

• Bring cash for parking. Unless you are there at sunrise, you can expect to pay $10 to park all day in parking lots, private yards, and church yards. 

• Bring cash in small denominations ... PLEASE! All the food vendors are nonprofits, most are from our school, and we don't have deep pockets. A steady stream of ATM fresh $20 bills quickly depletes our change supply. Small bills, (ones, fives, tens) will help us with making change and not hold up the line while we send a runner to try and find some small bills.

• I can't speak for the art vendors, but in my experience, many of them are set up to take debit and credit cards.

• You will be in a coastal town so expect lots of sunshine and bring your hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. Don't let the fact that it's October fool you. You can get a wicked sunburn in Florida in October.  Right now, one week ahead of the festival, the forecast for those 2 days shows highs of 81, sunny with some clouds (duh), and a 12 mph breeze. SOUNDS PERFECT!

• Every year there are well behaved leashed dogs that come to the festival. Just remember, they are wearing a fur coat, not a tank top like the rest of us and bright sun on an 81 degree day can cause a dog to heat up pretty quickly. There is some shade from trees in the park where the food vendors are, but the art section is sunny and more confining. Use common sense and maybe leave your best buddy home, or at least plan for his needs. We will have a doggy water station at our Clam Chowder booth.

• Other handy things are shady strollers for your baby and folding chairs so you have a place to sit, eat, and people watch.

• If you are a cyclist, a bike is the perfect way to cruise around Cedar Key.

Those are my best tips after years of working the festival. Thank you in advance for supporting the nonprofits by your purchases of food and drink at the festival.

Just to bring home how important this event is to our school, chew on this:
A teacher at Cedar Key School receives an annual classroom budget of $75 for the year. 
Try teaching science or any subject on that.
Last year, when I finally ran out of clam chowder late on Sunday, I put $1600.00 in the school Science Department Account ... all from clam chowder sales!
That's field trips, supplies, equipment, all the things you need for good teaching.
So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Come see us next weekend ... and please drive like your children live here.