Marathon Sea Food Festival

Marathon’s fishing heritage takes center stage March 14 and 15 with the 33rd Original Marathon Seafood Festival at Marathon Community Park.

Put on by the local chapter of the Organized Fishermen of Florida and the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce, the two-day festival is a celebration of local seafood and the families that catch it.

The festivities run 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 14, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 15.

In a nod to today’s economic challenges, organizers have cut the gate fee from $8 to $5. That’s the same price charged in the festival’s inaugural year when it was held on the field where the Publix now stands.

While a lot has changed since then, one festival constant has been the seafood, including fresh and local lobster, stone crab and fish, served up by many of the same families who catch it. No questions here about where the food is coming from or where the money’s going.

Festival-goers have a plethora of seafood options to choose from, including the ubiquitous conch chowder, conch salad and conch fritters (no, the conch’s not from the Keys), the leggy golden crab or some Panhandle oysters. And be sure to leave room for a key lime tart or other dessert from the sweet booth.

Proceeds from the festival are split between the chamber and OFF, both of which put much of it back into the community in the form of scholarships and other community-boosting activities.

In addition to the mouth-watering draw of local seafood cooked by local fishermen and their families, both days of this year’s festival are packed with activities for festival-goers of all ages.

Daniel Samess, executive director of the Greater Marathon Area Chamber of Commerce, is particularly enthusiastic about one of this year’s additions — Sunday’s tribute to the U.S. military.

“It’s going to be pretty exciting,” Samess said of the 1 p.m. tribute, which will include a flyover by the Navy. “It’s a first for the seafood festival,” Samess said. “We’re extremely honored.”

Throughout both days, there will be plenty of activities to entertain kids.

“We make sure it’s a real family event,” Samess said.

Adventurous kids will be all over the climbing wall and bungee ride, both of which the chamber’s Charlotte Quinn says are bigger and better than last year.

Proceeds from time in the bounce house will benefit Stand Up for Animals.

Young fishermen can test their casting ability at the Forgotten Soldiers’ booth, competing for prizes and raising money for the group, which sends care packages to U.S. service personnel overseas.

.This is the third year the festival has been held at the Marathon Community Park, after years at the airport.

“We love having it there,” said Samess, who’s in his second year at the chamber’s helm. “It’s probably not quite as big as the airport, but it’s made for events like these.”

Parking will be available at Stanley Switlik Elementary (bayside) and the Guidance Clinic on 41st Street (oceanside). Pigeon Key is providing its van as a parking shuttle, and there will also be some golf carts to ferry people up or across the street.

Check out Keys Sunday for a map of the festival grounds and more about the 33rd Original Marathon Seafood Festival.

Karen Quist