Marathon Seafood Festival March 14-15
March 6th, 2009| 2010 Marathon Seafood Festival » |
Marathon, Florida Keys – Marathon is known as the Heart of the Keys, but the Original Marathon Seafood Festival takes delectable aim at the tummy. This much-anticipated feast is set for Saturday and Sunday, March 14-15, at Marathon Community Park, mile marker 49 oceanside.
The annual munch-a-thon features local delicacies like Florida lobster, stone crab claws, pink shrimp and smoked fish. Keys chefs are to offer conch in chowders, salad and fritters, fresh oysters, clams and fried local fish. Hungry customers also can indulge in old-fashioned festival favorites like hamburgers and hot dogs.
Sweet treats, including fresh Key lime pie, should provide a fine finish to the seafood extravaganza. Beer and soft drinks will be available as well.
Other attractions include a nautical flea market, boat show, arts and crafts booths, children’s games and scheduled entertainers including Amber Leigh, Mojito, Island Vibe and the return of favorite local musicians including the Florida Straits Band.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 per adult. Children under 12 are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.
From Fishermen to the Fork – Preparing for the Marathon Seafood Festival
A salute to Florida Keys seafood, the Original Marathon Seafood Festival is aptly dubbed “from fisherman to fork.” The festival is unique because local fishermen do all the food preparation and cooking.
In the early years of the Florida Keys’ settlement, many residents earned their living as shipwreck salvors, farmers and fishermen. The salvors and farmers are long gone, but commercial fishermen still bring in fresh catches of crab, Florida lobster, shrimp and fish.
Each year, to thank the community that supports them and raise funds for local organizations, charities and school scholarships, the Marathon chapter of the Organized Fishermen of Florida plans and prepares a feast to feed over 10,000 seafood-hungry people at the festival.
How do they do it?
Decades of experience and help from scores of fishing families committed to serving their community keep local fishermen Tommy Coppedge, Bennett Orr and Keys Fisheries Market and Marina owner Gary Graves involved each year, alongside several other fishermen and volunteers.
Keys Fisheries, which processes fishermen’s catches for its busy market and restaurant, is large enough to prepare the festival’s feast: a whopping 60 gallons of conch chowder, 20 gallons of conch ceviche, 800 pounds of stone crab, 2,000 pounds of lobster, 1,200 pounds of mahi-mahi (dolphin), 500 pounds of shrimp and 1,000 pounds of the soft-shell golden crab that’s unique to the area.
“We started fishing golden crab in the Gulf Stream about 10 years ago,” said Coppedge. “It’s opaque, not pink, and boiled to cook.”
“At first, because it was different, we couldn’t give it away,” he said. “We quickly developed a tasty recipe of parsley, garlic and butter, so we run out every year.”
Also expected on the regular make-a-plate menu are smoked fish and fish dip, made from the kingfish that roughly a dozen Middle Keys net fishermen are licensed to catch, as well as oysters and clams that come from the west coast of Florida.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a festival without sweets, and that’s where the fishermen’s wives take charge each year. In addition to several dozen Key lime pies prepared at Keys Fisheries, they supply homemade brownies, cakes, pies and cookies for the sweets booth — as well as lemonade to wash them down.
Co-sponsored by the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce, the festival is a tastebud-tempting way to spend a weekend with family in tow (and bring a bib).
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 14, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 15. Admission is $5 per adult. Children under 12 are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.
For more information, contact the Marathon Chamber of Commerce at (305) 743-5417 or (800) 262-7284. To find out about area accommodations, call the chamber, or visit the Florida Keys & Key West Web site at www.fla-keys.com.
