The Cedar Key Seafood Festival is the fall counterpart to Cedar Key's Spring Sidewalk Art Festival, held in the historic Gulf Coast fishing village. It celebrates the town's seafood heritage, including its clam aquaculture industry, which today accounts for roughly 90 percent of Florida's farmed clam production.
Its seafood identity and remote island setting make it guidebook-worthy.
Cedar Key's economy pivoted dramatically after a 1995 statewide ban on large-scale net fishing, when a government retraining program helped local fishermen shift into clam farming, and that history gives the seafood festival a genuine economic backstory rather than just a food-and-crafts theme
The town now anchors a multimillion-dollar clam aquaculture industry, producing about 90 percent of Florida's farmed clams, a fact that connects the festival's seafood menu directly to what is actually harvested in the surrounding waters
Held in a village still built around tabby-construction historic buildings and regionally famous seafood restaurants, the festival sits inside a genuinely working fishing-village setting rather than a recreated or themed one
The festival continues Cedar Key's identity as a working fishing village whose economy shifted from open-water net fishing to clam aquaculture after the 1995 net ban
and it sits alongside the town's separate Spring Sidewalk Art Festival as one of the two annual events that define Cedar Key's community calendar
17 October 2026
Driving is required.
Casual coastal-village clothing suited to Florida's fall weather, comfortable shoes for walking the historic downtown streets and docks, and a light layer for any breeze off the Gulf.
Use normal food-market caution, hydrate, and leave time between crowded stalls.
Cedar Key
Entry may be free while tastings, meals, or special tables are paid locally.
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Cedar Key Seafood Festival is listed for 17 October 2026. Always re-check the official or local source close to travel.
The festival is listed in Cedar Key, United States. The map coordinate is a planning reference, not a guarantee of a ticket gate or exact venue.
One day is the listed festival span. Add time for arrival, local transport, queues, and any route changes during the event.
Official source linked. Eventisimus separates source confidence from travel suggestions, so check final details before booking.
Cedar Key, FL
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