This year was the 28th annual Pelican Island Wildlife Festival. The festival is held from 10:00 AM…read more- 4:00 PM in Riverview Park in Sebastian to commemorate the birthday of the refuge on March 14, 1903. Pelican National Wildlife refuge was created by one man's determination to protect the birds he loved. Paul Kroegel was a German immigrant and Sebastian resident and conservationist. He arrived in Sebastian in 1881 and homesteaded on the west bank of the Indian River across from Pelican Island. As he watched the birds on the island he fell in love with them and became increasingly disturbed by the hunters killing them. He took to protecting the birds by guarding them with his shotgun during a time when they had no lawful protection. Paul enlisted the help of the American Ornithologists Union and the Florida Audubon Society to help protect the birds. They joined together to pass legislation for protection of non-game birds. The Florida Audubon Society hired Paul Kroegel along with three other wardens to protect the birds from plume hunters and the sports hunters who would shoot at the birds while passing by on boats. During the time Paul served, two of the other wardens were murdered. Naturalist Frank Chapman and his fellow advocate, William Dutcher went to Theodore Roosevelts New York home to plead their case for the protection of the birds. In response President Roosevelt made Pelican Island the first National Wildlife Refuge in 1903. Paul Kroegel was hired as the first national wildlife refuge manager. He passed away in 1948. Since then the land was threatened in the 1960's developers attempted to buy the surrounding wetlands but local citizens stopped them. The Indian River Area Preservation League made up of local citrus growers, commercial fishermen, and sportsmen, joined with the Florida Audubon Society to convince the State to include the islands as a part of the refuge. In 1963, Pelican Island was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. Since then the refuge has gained over 500 more acres to help protect it from encroachment by development. There is a large parking lot with free parking adjacent to the park. Entrance to the festival is free. The event has live wildlife shows, food, environmental exhibitors, arts & crafts, a rehabilitated pelican release, raffle, amateur photography contest, native plant sale, educational presentations, historical reenactments with President Theodore Rossevelt, and for a fee boat tours to Pelican Island. I specially loved seeing all of the birds brought by the Treasure Coat Wildlife Center. Sadly because of their injuries, these birds can't be released into the wild and I was happy to donate to them. President Roosevelt is the Master of Ceremonies and is portrayed by Theodore Roosevelt interpreter, Joe Wiegand. He gave a wonderful presentation that taught about the history of Pelican Island and his efforts to protect its birds as well as other events in the life of President Roosevelt. The 2020 Pelican Island Wildlife Festival celebrated the 117th anniversary of the Pelican Island National Wildlife Reserve. The event is hosted by the Pelican Island Preservation Society and the City of Sebastian. It is a fantastic way to bring awareness to the refuge. Even though the festival is only held one day a year, you can visit the refuge 365 days a year.

It's a wonderful festival family oriented. We go every year absolutely love it. It looks like it's…read moregonna be cold this year so it's still gonna go and bundle up. I don't like to miss it for anything.

The Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival was created in 1990 to raise funds for children's programs in town…read more Proposed by Fran Adams and other local residents, it was thought that frogs legs might be unique enough to draw people to the town. For the first festival, 400 pounds of frogs from the surrounding marshes were caught and sold as fund raiser dinners cooked outside. Now the meals are prepared in the basement of the historic Fellsmere school. Money from the festival has been used to restore the school and now it houses the City Administrative offices, the Boys & Girls Club, and a community space. The event has now put Fellsmere on the map as the Frog Leg Capital of the World. It is held annually during the third week of January. 2022 was the festivals 31st year and it began on Thursday and ran through Sunday. The Frog Leg Festival holds 2 Guinness Book World Records for The Most Frog Legs served in the course of one business day and the Largest Frog Leg Festival in the world. Every year 80,000 attendees are served over 7,000 pounds of frog legs and 2,000 pounds of alligator. As you pull into town there is a field you can park in and grab a shuttle bus but I was able to find parking on the side of the road pretty close to the festival. You don't have to worry about being toad. LOL The festival is held on the grounds of the historic school in downtown Fellsmere. If you are adverse to eating frogs legs and alligator there are other booths selling all kinds of carnival food. Also selling food is the nearby historic Marsh Landing restaurant along with several Mexican restaurants and a bar on North Broadway Street.. The festival also has rides, games, live entertainment, displays, and shopping. Depending on the day, you can purchase an all you can ride wristband for 20 or 25 dollars. The local high school sells T-shirts which feature a different design every year. I love the old Florida feeling in Fellsemere and always wanted to attend this festival. I was not in to eating frogs legs or alligator however. I still had a great time walking around and visiting the different booths, listening to the music, and enjoying the hometown feel of the festival. This festival is well known in Florida and since Fellmere is centrally located it draws people from the south and north. This years festival is over so get a hop on it and mark your calendar for 2023.

This is a large arts and crafts fair being held at the Indian River County Fairgrounds January…read more15-16, Sat 10 am to 5 pm and Sun 10 am to 4 pm. The event is outside underneath cover. Admission and parking are both free. Dogs are welcome and the event is wheelchair accessible. The expo features 150 vendors selling food, wood, glass, plants, pottery, art, jewelry, accessories, clothing, and home goods. There were a variety of interesting and affordable things to look at. My favorites were the licorice and fudge, local honey, fruit salsa, sea glass wind chimes, and the copper bird baths. I love anything tropical themed with mermaids and flamingoes. In addition to the shopping there was also several food trucks, adult beverages, and live music. Next door to the Craft Expo, the Home Show was held in the David W. Fleetwood Exposition Center. It was also free admission. Parking was easy and plentiful and the weather was beautiful. Both events are going on tomorrow so come out and enjoy.

This is the 21st Annual Sebastian Clambake, it was our first time attending. It's held at Riverview…read morePark, admission and parking are free. It's a 3-day event (Nov 8 - 10) and we decided to go on Friday. We were lucky to find a parking spot right away. The weather was perfect, it was warm with a slight breeze off the Indian River. The live music was nice, not too loud. Upon arrival, we bought our food/drink tickets; $1 per ticket. There were plenty of tables set up to accommodate the crowd. The steamed clams were fresh and tasty, not sandy or rubbery. The hot dog was good, it was cooked on a barbeque, they had ketchup but no mustard. I tried Pareidolia's Zip Code IPA, it was ok. After dinner, we checked out the vendor booths and the boat show. Overall, it seemed organized and was enjoyable.

What a sad event. Lacked any variety of vendors, food selection was even worse. $5 hotdog? Really?…read moreSomeone got their pockets lined. Zero stars should be an option, or better yet, negative stars. We will not be wasting our time or money on any future events of this nature. Stop with the whole food ticket thing, if this is part of your festival, it is an instant turn off.