The Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival

The National Shrimp Festival is held each year at Gulf Shore's main public beach where Gulf Shores Parkway (Highway 59) intersects with Highway 182. The festival begins on the Thursday before the second full weekend in October.

Many people refer to it as the Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival, and even more know it as just "the Shrimp Festival."

2012 will mark the 41st year for the the Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival. The celebration draws about 300,000 people, making it one of the largest outdoor festivals in the United States. The 200 artists who exhibit their work are carefully selected by the National Shrimp Festival Committee. The quality of arts and crafts at the event is probably unsurpassed anywhere in the country.

It's better to come to the festival hungry because there is plenty of food. You will find just about any seafood that you're in the mood for. Gator on a stick is there for those who want to say they've tasted alligator. I imagine there's still a lot of people in the world who have never had crawfish. The festival is the place to mark those two things off their list of "things to eat before I die."

And naturally there's a lot of shrimp. Every time I hear the Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival mentioned, Bubba from "Forest Gump" gets in my head. "You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There, uh, shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole... shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp... shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich..." I'm not sure if all of those shrimp dishes are available at the festival, but there's probably no better place to look for any of them.

The shrimp item that has garnered the most positive feedback in recent years is the Cajun pistol, made with shrimp, crawfish, crabs and cheese and served on a bread roll.

Those who leave the Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival with a bag are most likely to have an official National Shrimp Festival T-shirt or poster, or both, in it. A competition is held each year for the poster design. Winning the contest is a big honor for the artist and no doubt a nice addition to his resume. Posters from past events are usually treasured mementos, and many are framed and placed in homes and businesses all over the Gulf coast.

Two stages offer almost constant entertainment. Local favorites like Johnny Barbato, Tophat & Jackie, Brent Burns, and Elaine Petty are always a big part of the line-up. The best local acts bring their fan base to the festival and gain new fans each year.

National touring acts are always sprinkled into the line-up. Molly Hatchet (of "Flirtin' with Disaster" fame) played the festival a few years back. Another year Grammy Award winner LeeAnn Womack and 1970s rockers Foghat performed. In 2011, country stars Colt Ford and Sunny Ledford and 1980s hairband Warrant played the festival.

Most of the national acts are well past their touring prime, but they can generally still perform as well as they did in their glory years. At one Shrimp Festival we saw Leon Russell perform a great show. Leon Russell is a legendary performer who at one time could headline Madison Square Garden. Yet, here he is the same performer, the same talent, at the Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival, and we're less than 10 feet from the stage.

Some Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival goers look forward to participating in the sandcastle contest. There are divisions for both adults and children, and it's easy to tell that most who enter have been practicing every time they get near a beach. Some amazing art can be crafted from sand. That's not all of the kid stuff though; there's an entire section set aside for kids to have fun.

Admission is free to the National Shrimp Festival.

It can be very crowded near the festival grounds. Bus shuttles run up and down the beach highway, and last year there was a shuttle stop at Wal-Mart.

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