Crowds check out arts and crafts on Centre Street as part of a recent Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach. | Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival
Published on April 29, 2026 at 11:09 am
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
The 61st annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival arrives this weekend in Fernandina Beach.
An estimated 150,000 visitors are expected to check out the arts and crafts along Centre Street, as well as all kinds of shrimp dishes.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The crowd can expect a few changes this year.
PARKING: The city has a new downtown paid parking program, but it will be waived from Thursday night through 8 p.m. Sunday. The program was instituted in mid-February in all public lots and spaces along Centre Street from Ash Street to Alachua Street, plus Front Street east to, but not including, 8th Street.
“We understand there’s a lot of confusion related what visitors can expect when visiting Downtown Fernandina Beach,” shrimp festival chairperson Scott Inglis said in a news release. “We want to reassure all our out-of-town and day tripper visitors that they will experience parking at and around the festival as it has been for many years, with our official lots as fundraisers, and other free and legal street parking in the surrounding neighborhoods.”
FIREWORKS: The traditional fireworks show will be replaced by a drone show as a result of Nassau County’s burn ban, which was enacted in response to the county’s exceptional drought.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The Shrimp Festival is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that hosts the event in partnership with the city of Fernandina Beach every first weekend in May, gathering more than 400 vendors, a small town parade, fake pirates and locally-run booths selling local shrimp.
It is called the Isle of Eight Flags because many governments have overseen the community since 1562 — France, Spain, Great Britain, the Patriots of Amelia Island, the Green Cross of Florida, Mexico, the Confederacy and finally the United States.
Inglis said that the event has the largest economic impact of any annual event in Nassau County, an estimated $15 million in visitor and tourism income.
Nonprofit groups retain money they raise in food booths, and the multiblock arts and crafts show organized by the Island Art Association is called one of the top juried art shows in the U.S.
Festival events
The weekend’s events start with the annual small town parade, beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday from Central Park on Ash Street, then heading west before turning onto South Second Street, then Centre Street to Central Park. Public parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis to watch the annual lineup of bands, dancers, and floats.
The 17-minute drone show will light up the sky around 9:30 p.m. Friday. Four hundred drones will perform over the Intracoastal/Amelia River facing downtown. Good viewing spots include the waterfront and the new Amelia River Waterfront Park.
“We are thankful to work with LunaLite, which has quickly responded to our urgent request and designed a wonderful show full of shrimp, boats and Fernandina Beach themes,” Inglis said. “Drone shows are about three times the cost of traditional fireworks, but the Shrimp Festival Board and Committee are very pleased to fund this alternative to fireworks given the drought conditions.”
Then comes the festival, open from 5 to 1 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Artists will vie for multiple awards, from Best of Show ($5,000), as well as 15 Judges Choice Awards at $300 each.
All food booths benefit Nassau County nonprofits. They will be set up along Centre Street, the waterfront food court, Kids Fun Zone and Ash Street at Front Street, including a small number of Nassau County-based food trucks for the first time.
There are two official parking lots. The Park & Ride lot at Fernandina Beach High School costs $15, with a shuttle to and from the shrimp fest. The Park & Walk lot is at Buccaneer Field/Central Park, a $20 donation with a short walk to the festival. Centre Street and side streets from Front Street through 7th Street will be closed to vehicles through the weekend.
There also will be handicapped-accessible parking (with valid disabled parking permit) at the library parking lot at Alachua and 4th streets, and on Ash Street between 4th and 5th.
The full schedule of events is here.
