Amelia Island’s Mardi Gras — Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival

The Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival on Amelia Island is a celebration like no other — our own version of Mardi Gras, coastal style. Over the years, the festival has grown into a major regional attraction, now drawing an estimated 100,000 visitors.

The festival kicks off with a parade. Amelia Island loves a parade. Throughout the year, parades dot the calendar, but the granddaddy of them all is the annual shrimp festival parade, opening the festival Thursday night, rain or shine. By late afternoon, sidewalks along Centre and Ash streets are lined with families setting up chairs, staking out front-row seats for what is always a colorful and entertaining spectacle.

The first festival, held in 1964, featured shrimp boat races along the Fernandina waterfront. At the time, shrimping was the backbone of the local economy, so the event naturally celebrated the island’s rich maritime culture. The current festival features a variety of dishes made from locally caught shrimp, offered by local non-profits raising money for their organizations. Shrimp show up boiled, grilled, fried, and in every variety you can imagine, including classic gumbo offered by the Amelia Island Museum of History.

And what would the festival be without its famous pirates?

Members of the Amelia Island/Fernandina Pirates Club roam the streets and proudly take part in the parade, delighting crowds in full pirate regalia. A highlight of the weekend is the Friday night Pirate Invasion, when pirates “storm” downtown Fernandina Beach. Their presence is rooted in history — at one point, a pirate flag flew over the island, one of the famed “Eight Flags” that have claimed Amelia.

The Island Art Association has also played a key role in the festival’s success. Each year, they organize and jury the Fine Arts & Crafts Show, filling Centre Street and surrounding blocks with artists and vendors.

So come Thursday, the Big Guy and I will pack up our lawn chairs, head downtown, and join the crowd. We’ll take in more than a hundred parade entries — from politicians to Shriners zipping by in their tiny, crazy cars, all while keeping an eye out for pirates tossing beads to lucky spectators. We love the bands. Groups of all types proudly march — from small children to Council On Aging’s annual float.

So here’s to shrimp — and to all the people who work so hard to make the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival such a special tradition.

Yes, Opie … there are still hometowns, parades, and festivals.

Festival Schedule

Thursday

• Annual Parade (rain or shine) – 6 p.m.

Friday

• Waterfront food booths – 3-10 p.m.
• Arts, crafts & vendors – 5 p.m. to dusk
• Pirate Invasion – 9 p.m.
• Fireworks immediately following

Saturday

• Festival hours – 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
• Waterfront booths – open until 8 p.m.
• Kids Fun Zone – 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Sunday

• Festival hours – 10 a.m.-5 p.m.