The Florida Stone Crabbers Association (FLSCA) will kick off its 53rd annual Everglades Seafood Festival on Feb. 17 outside Everglades City Hall, including an opening ceremony and a fireworks display.
The festival will continue through the weekend, wrapping up at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tens of thousands of people from all over the world flock to this small town each year to partake in the festivities.
Attendees enjoy live music, creative works from local artists, delicious seafood, cold beverages, and carnival rides.
Headlining this year’s festival will be the Marshall Tucker Band. They will perform Saturday, Feb. 18 at 6:45 p.m.
The Marshall Tucker Band came together as a young, hungry six-piece group in Spartanburg, S.C. in 1972, naming the band for a blind piano tuner after they found it inscribed on a key to their original rehearsal space. The band’s 40-plus-years music catalog consists of more than 20 studio albums and a score of live releases and has racked up multi-platinum album sales many times over. MTB’s indelible hits include the heartfelt singalong “Heard It in a Love Song,” the insistent pleading of “Can’t You See,” the testifying travelogue warning of “Fire on the Mountain,” the wanderlust gallop of “Long Hard Ride,” and the unquenchable yearning pitch of “Ramblin’,” to name but a few.
The Marshall Tucker Band members include original lead vocalist and bandleader Doug Gray, drummer B.B. Borden, bassist/vocalist Ryan Ware, keyboardist-saxophonist-flautist-vocalist Marcus James Henderson, guitarist-vocalist Chris Hicks and guitarist-vocalist Rick Willis.
The seafood festival is an annual charity event benefiting the Everglades City community. This year, the festival’s success is key, as many residents are still getting back on their feet after Hurricane Ian. “Homes and businesses were flooded for the second time in five years–first by Hurricane Irma, then Hurricane Ian,” said festival coordinator Holly Dudley. “Families were displaced, and businesses worked hard to reopen, but we are bouncing back quickly. Funds from our 2023 festival will help the victims and commercial fishermen rebuild.”
Friday night admission is free for all ages. Saturday and Sunday admission is a $5 minimum donation for adults. Children and residents of Everglades City, Chokoloskee and Copeland can receive free admission on all days. Beverage and carnival ride tickets will be cash only, and there will be ATMs on site.
Everglades Seafood Festival hours are Friday 4:30 – 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Friday’s music includes Lost Rodeo, Radio Road, Charlie Pace, Lee Brovitz and Winters Brothers. Saturday’s lineup has Gator Nate, Joe Prestige, Florida Straights, Sam Lowe, Rock Republic, Charlie Pace and Roxx Revolt. Sunday’s music schedule includes Jordan Guess, Gator Nate, Wes Shipp, Whey Jennings and Ward Davis.
For more than 50 years the Everglades Seafood Festival has been essential in generating income to improve its community and help its residents. The host, FLSCA, is a non-profit organization founded May 2020 to help unite stone crab fishermen and advocate for their best interests. Everglades City is a major producer of stone crab claws and it is the festival’s mission to support our local fishermen and the local communities that keep these hard-working people in business.
For more information about the 2023 Everglades Seafood Festival, visit www.EvergladesSeafoodFestival-2023.com
Marshall Tucker Band headlines Everglades Seafood Festival
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