Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
June 26, 2017 1:00 a.m.
The first weekend of May each year Fernandina Beach is invaded by hordes of visitors, pirates and people who just want to have fun. This year the city once again played host to the 54th Annual Shrimp Festival, celebrating the city’s heritage as the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry. Boatloads of wild caught shrimp—fried, boiled, blackened, steamed and grilled—on skewers, in gumbo, pies, wraps, sandwiches, and salads were consumed by the masses who browsed and shopped at the many vendor booths and enjoyed the musical entertainment and fireworks.
The vendors had a good year. So did public safety. Fernandina Beach Police Chief James Hurley reported no arrests, vendor thefts or vandalism, although there were some minor injuries.
Who are the folks responsible for this blockbuster production, and how do they do it? I recently sat down with Shrimp Festival Committee members Harry Harrison and Pat Kaminski to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes. Harrison, who chairs the festival, has served on the committee for five years; Kaminski has participated for more than 20 years. They are the “point of the spear” for the festival, which is organized and run by a 7-member Executive Committee and a larger committee of around 30 people who staff many subcommittees to get all the work done. Every person is a volunteer; the committee has no paid staff.
The festival runs on a $300K budget, which is primarily raised from event sponsors and booth rentals (300 vendors). The city invoices for Police, Fire Rescue, sanitation and Maintenance assistance. The committee brings in extra security and puts on the fireworks as well. These are just some of the expenses they cover.
All of the food concessions are run by Nassau County and Fernandina Beach non-profit organizations. And there is always a waiting list. The booths devoted to art work in all its various forms are selected by a separate committee of local artists, who select from among more than 400 applications.
Harrison estimated that the crowd this year was 140,000, down from the usual range of 160-180,000. He attributed that to the weather: rain and cold (for Florida) on Thursday, windy with a whiff of smoke from the swamp fires on Friday and Saturday.
An added complication this year was the City Marina’s damage from Hurricane Matthew. Marina Manager Joe Springer reported that capacity at the marina this year was a total of 7 transient slips. He said, “With no access to the Wave Attenuator outside dock, we were unable to host any shrimp boats, USCG vessels, County and Florida Wildlife Commission patrol boats and the Pirate Invasion.” Harrison said that the committee has two notebooks containing information on “What To Do If …” The committee went to Plan B and worked with Springer to ensure that the pirates would disappoint the crowd.
While most people get up the Monday after the festival to marvel at how quickly and well the festival area has been cleaned up and returned to normal, festival committee members immediately begin working on the next festival as they try to close the books on the one just completed. The committee meets monthly at the Days Inn on Sadler Road until January, when they begin meeting twice per month. When April arrives, they meet weekly. Their meetings are all open to the public.
The Hospitality Subcommittee recruits and schedules additional volunteers from schools and non-profits to work the festival. Donations are made to groups that help out.
Harrison noted that this year the local economic impact of the festival was $17-18M, and that 99 percent of local accommodations were booked.
Kid Zone
The Kid Zone, which is now in its third year at the Central Park location, has proven to be quite successful. Kaminski noted that the festival has paid for the lights that have now been installed at that location, enabling both the festival and other events to be held into the evening hours. The Friday night special – a flat price for unlimited rides – was established to show gratitude to the local community for its support of the festival. Kid friendly food booths have been added, as well as a special portable restroom for moms with infants. Kaminski noted that the move to Central Park has both relieved congestion in the downtown area where the Kid Zone was previously located and created a safer space for children. The need for Band-Aids to cover scrapes from falls on the asphalt has been eliminated.
The festival area will not be expanding further, because its borders have been set officially where they are.
Parade
I gingerly broached the topic of the festival parade, acknowledging that it had come in for some criticism this year for turning down applications. Harrison and Kaminski explained that political affiliation has no bearing on whether a group is allowed to march or not. The local Democratic Party was invited to participate, but they did not; the Republicans did, however. Candidates who drive by and wave are also welcome, although the welcome mat would be withdrawn if candidates were using the parade as an opportunity to speechify or solicit funds or signatures from parade watchers.
Both Harrison and Kaminski stressed that committee members are well aware of First Amendment issues, when it comes to expressing beliefs. They pointed to some festivalgoers who promote their religious beliefs to the crowds. However, they stressed that the entire festival, including the parade, is aimed at an audience of families. Criteria for parade entrants are listed on the festival website. When a new group asks to participate, they are carefully scrutinized to make sure that they conform to criteria and that their entry will be family friendly. Harrison said that the committee stands by its decision to refuse Indivisible Nassau and the Women’s March permission to march in light of events that occurred during the groups’ earlier march. The committee not only believed that their track record did not show evidence of family friendly activity, but they also feared that they might encourage inappropriate behavior among crowd watchers.
Some festivalgoers also complained this year about what they saw as businesses taking over Centre Street booth space. Harrison said that certain businesses have always had booths. Sponsorship entitles businesses to booths, depending on their level of support. When problems arise, the festival committee does its best to work out the logistics to ensure that a booth is not competing with a brick-and-mortar business downtown.
What are some of the future concerns facing the Shrimp Festival Committee? The weather is always number one. But they are also facing problems relating to the aging of the island’s volunteers. The average age of committee members is roughly 50, and at least one member is reported to be in her 80’s. But the non-profit groups, which in some cases make their money for the year at their food booths during the festival, are experiencing difficulty attracting adequate help. Already this past festival one major non-profit pulled out for that reason.
Harry Harrison explained that the reason that Shrimp Festival began in the month of May was that there are no local shrimp caught in May. The festival provided the shrimpers with some fun during their down time as they competed in races on the Amelia River. He stressed because May is not local shrimping season that the shrimp sold at the festival are not local shrimp, but wild caught – not farm raised. “People must be trained to ask if shrimp are wild caught, not if they are local,” he said, adding that even locally caught shrimp in season are flash frozen to preserve their freshness.
For more information on the work of the Shrimp Festival Committee, volunteer needs and opportunities, parade entrance requirements, etc., visit the website http://www.shrimpfestival.com. You may direct inquiries or suggestions to them at [email protected] or by mail to Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival Inc., Attn.: (Group, Function or Name), P.O. Box 6146, Fernandina Beach, Fl. 32035.
To learn more about Fernandina Beach’s shrimping history and the people who made it, visit the Fernandina Beach Shrimping Museum & Welcome Center on the Amelia River front. There you will find artifacts and displays in addition to a video featuring shrimping, boat building and the origins of Shrimp Festival.
Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.
For me, the lone positive aspect of the festival is that so many non-profits are helped financially. Beyond that, I miss the community-based festival (it’s now a corporate sponsored attraction). I don’t like it that that all of the food booths are now over-priced and the only thing local about the shrimp is that they were purchased from a nearby frozen food company. The financial impact is grossly exaggerated: you have to subtract the economic activity that would have taken place anyway, without the festival – hotel/motel rooms would have been occupied anyway, restaurants would have been at capacity anyway – and you have to subtract the negative economics – closed businesses because of the traffic/parking, etc. During the festival codes are not enforced – parking, noise ordinances, etc. – and it’s not surprising that there were no reports of arrests – people were openly walking around town with open containers, cars were parked illegally, etc. – don’t want to make our tourist town appear un-friendly to tourists by giving them tickets or arresting them. Thanks for letting me vent.