Marathon Seafood Festival: March 13-14, 2021

Last updated on August 25th, 2020 at 04:58 pm

The Marathon Seafood Festival calls itself the Original Marathon Seafood Festival to emphasize it’s the real deal – indigenous and authentic.

Our Florida Seafood Festival calendar lists more than 70 seafood festivals; the Keys have at least two others.

But the Marathon Seafood Festival is the oldest seafood festival in the Keys. It was founded 41 years ago by commercial fishermen, and it’s the fishermen (members of the Organized Fishermen of Florida) who catch and cook all of the seafood. Their wives bake the key lime pies and desserts, according to event coordinator Leah Luckin.

The event, now the second most popular festival in the Keys after Key West Fantasy Fest, has grown to include live music, a fine art show, boat show, rides and games and booths selling products ranging seagrass hats to sculptures made from old lobster traps. There are more than 200 vendors.

Seafood, fresh off the boat, however, is the real reason more than 25,000 people are expected during the two-day festival.

The most popular item is a Florida lobster dinner. Last year, more than 2,000 pounds of local spiny lobster was served.

The lines are also long for stone crab, shrimp, fish, conch fritters and chowder.  (More than 50 gallons of conch chowder will be served cup by cup that weekend, according to event statistics from past years.)

The festival will serve kegs and kegs of beer and many gallons of wine along with all the sides including hush puppies, cole slaw and French fries, and, of course, Key lime pie.

Live music from a variety of genres is featured throughout the festival.

The Saturday night headliner is Tobacco Road, a country rock band based in Tallahassee.

Marathon Seafood Festival: Just the facts

2020 Admission. Admission was $5, children under 10 admitted free. No pets.

Directions: Head south on the Overseas Highway to Mile Marker 49, the Marathon Community Park, 200 36th St., which is the ocean side of the road. There is some free parking around town, but the schools and churches charge for parking as a fund-raiser. Many offer shuttles.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.  It gets crowded:  The earlier you get there the better, say the event organizers.

Website for Marathon Seafood Festival. 

Where to stay:  The Marathon Seafood Festival occurs in middle of the busy spring-break season, so rooms will go for their highest rates.  The most reasonably priced accommodations will be in 1950s-era mom-and-pop motels, which dot the Keys. While not luxurious, many retain a lot of Keys character.  Also consider booking rooms in either the Lower Keys (Big Pine Key and adjoining islands) or even the Upper Keys (Key Largo.)

Click here for a schedule of other seafood festivals in Florida.

Resources for planning a Florida Keys vacation

• Mile marker guide with dozens of stops to help make the most of your drive south.
• Florida Keys wildlife: Places to see animals
• Tiki bars: Soak up the Keys atmosphere
• 12 great kayak outings in the Keys
• Top 10 pit stops on Overseas Highway
• Free beaches in the Florida Keys

Special places near Marathon Seafood Festival

• The Old Seven Mile Bridge and Pigeon Key
• Indian Key: Kayak into history
• Feed the tarpon at Robbie’s Marina
• Sea Turtle Hospital in Marathon
• Bahia Honda State Park: Good beaches & a great bridge

Camping and lodging in the Florida Keys

• Best tent camping in the Keys
• Long Key: Beach camping in the Keys
• Camping in Middle Keys: Curry Hammock State Park
• Camping near Key West
• Camping at the Dry Tortugas
• Classic Keys cabins on Big Pine Key