A beach tradition, the 57th Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival, is coming Saturday-Sunday, March 14 and 15 to this quaint Old Florida beach town. Known to locals as the beach’s biggest event, the Fort Myers Beach Lions Club is sponsoring the festival that kicks off with a 5k festival run on Saturday at 9 a.m., followed by the Shrimp Festival Parade. The main attraction is big boiling pots of Gulf shrimp, which members of the Lions Club cook and serve.
The 2-mile long Shrimp Festival Parade on Saturday morning runs down the main thoroughfare of town—Estero Boulevard—from the Fort Myers Beach Elementary School to the Lynn Hall County Park next to Time Square. Festival Grounds are on the beach. Afterward from 10 am-5 pm, more than 100 vendors come to the beach for the annual shrimp festival food and arts & crafts expo to sell their food and crafts. On the beach and the pavilion, Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10 am, visitors can buy tickets in advance for the world-famous Lions Shrimp Dinner at the beach park, featuring locally caught wild shrimp from the Fort Myers Beach shrimp fleet. There is also an old-fashioned crowning of the Shrimp Queen with scholarships and trophies awarded.
The Lions Club Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival is the largest 2-day event on Estero Island. Fort Myers Beach is the home of the largest shrimp boat fleet on the Gulf Coast of the United States and celebrates its shrimp industry. The festival continues on Sunday from 10 am- 5 pm. It’s a fun family event. Parking is available on San Carlos Boulevard at the Lee Tran Beach Trolley at the old Winn Dixie Shopping Center on San Carlos Boulevard and Summerlin Road then take a trolley to the festival. All proceeds benefit the Lions charities.