John’s Pass Seafood Fest draws record crowd, organizers say
MADEIRA BEACH — Nestled in the shadow of the sprawling Hooters and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants that draw hoards of tourists to John’s Pass each year, a weekend festival of artisans, musicians and chefs gave locals a chance to show off the area’s quirkier side.
The 33rd Annual John’s Pass Seafood Festival’s primary mission, as always, was to give families a weekend of good food, good music and good memories, but the event also brought attention to the smaller businesses and eateries that could be overshadowed by their neighbors’ neon signs.
“This is really a fundraiser to bring people into this historic village and keep it alive,” said Susan Blankenship, an event coordinator with SIK Promotions. “It raises awareness of the history of this area and the businesses that have thrived here for many, many years.”
An estimated 50,000 people filtered through John’s Pass Village and boardwalk during the festival, Blankenship said — the largest crowds the festival has ever seen. This year the event, hosted by The John’s Pass Village Association, held its first John’s Pass Seafood Festival Battle in the Gulf fishing tournament, which paid back all proceeds to participating anglers.
The number of seafood vendors also nearly doubled this year, giving long-time favorites like Laughing Crab Catering stiff competition on the crab cake market.
Chuck Maslin owned his own seafood restaurant in Havre de Grace, Maryland for 10 years before he decided to work the festival market full time. Cooking for festivals at tourist destinations like John’s Pass and across the country has proved to be more lucrative than his brick and mortar business, Maslin said. Maslin’s crab cakes have won 22 awards in the time he’s been making the festival circuit with his sons, including John’s Pass’ “best seafood dish” designation.
“We enjoy Florida, we spend a lot of time here in the fall,” Maslin said. “We’re seeing more and more people start to do the same thing, and we’ve seen more vendors this year than ever before, but the competition’s not harder for us because of the quality of the ingredients we use and how we prepare everything fresh to order.”
The seafood festival, like the Jon Levesque Pirate days, kite festivals and other events on the area’s event calendar, started as a grass-roots effort from the businesses that call the area home.
Joe Fala has run Windworks out of the turn-of-the-century village for about 15 years, selling kites and other items a bit more unusual than the typical T-shirts and shot glasses. The store has sponsored the children’s costume contest for years, donating prizes for all 70 or more participants.
“This is by far our biggest event, and it may not mean too much in terms of the money each business brings in, but it really promotes the pass and everything that makes us unique,” Fala said. “People always think of John’s Pass as a tourist trap, but the stores really branch out and give back to the community and offer good quality products.
As the festival’s Jimmy Buffett tribute bands, Halloween costume contests, singing gumbo cooks and tastiest seafood competitions came to a close, Fala said he hopes the tourists will find more reasons to visit John’s Pass than to test their Forrest Gump trivia prowess.
“The festival gives us an opportunity to build those relationships, and that’s invaluable,” he said.
(727) 215-9851
Twitter: @adawsonTBO
