Galveston Island Shrimp Festival
Who doesn’t love a good bowl of gumbo? Visitors can sample gumbo from nearly 100 cooking teams as part of the inaugural Galveston Island Shrimp Festival on Saturday, Sept. 25 at Saengerfest Park, 23rd and Strand. Gumbo lovers can sample and judge wild shrimp gumbo prepared by 100 teams including area restaurants.
“We invite not only our local residents but all Texans to join us in celebrating the return of Galveston Island from Hurricane Ike and take this opportunity to honor the shrimp industry in Texas,” says Mike Dean, president of Yaga’s Entertainment, Inc., a local event company. “We plan on making this festival one of the largest shrimp festivals on the Gulf Coast in the years to come.”
This year, the festival will limit the number of participating teams to 100 including 20 teams designated to Gulf Coast area restaurants and Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO TEXAN Program members. All shrimp in the contest must be wild Texas shrimp. Attendees will taste and vote on the best shrimp gumbo of the twenty restaurants and the best in the amateur category. The winning amateur team will be honored by having their championship gumbo on the menu of Yaga’s Cafe in Galveston for one year. Other gumbo categories include chicken and sausage, shrimp bisque and an open division.
A limited number of Texas wineries will offer wine samples to festival attendees. “We are focusing on bringing Texas wineries to the festival as well as Texas artisans so we can showcase Texas only products,” notes Dean. “All exhibitors will have to qualify as GO TEXAN members to participate in event.”
Additional activities include a children’s parade, 5K run, 1K children’s walk, and a Whimcycle Shrimpcycle. A timed 5K and a 1K children’s walk/run will benefit the University of Texas Medical Branch. Festival goers can also participate in a merchant walkabout to win a grand shopping spree in downtown Galveston.
The Galveston Island Shrimp Festival has put a spin on an old tradition by changing the blessing of the fleet to the blessing of “dafeet” to tie in with the 5K and 1K. “Since Hurricane Ike, we don’t have a huge shrimp fleet to bless, so we decided to have a ‘blessing of dafeet’ that serves as a tagline to our festival name,” adds Dean.
The festival ends on Sunday, Sept. 26 with a Whimcycle Shrimpcycle on the Seawall, a leisurely bicycle cruise from Stewart Beach down Seawall Blvd. to the Float Pool and Patio Bar, 29th and Seawall. The costumed ride will conclude with a tailgate party for all costumed riders prior to the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys game. Pre-registration is required.
The Galveston Island Shrimp Festival Schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 24, 8p.m. to 10 p.m. – Cook off Team and Sponsor Party
Saturday, Sept. 25
8:30 a.m. – 5K run and 1K children’s walk benefitting the University Texas Medical Branch
10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Merchant Walk-About
noon to 3 p.m. – Public Gumbo Tasting
3 p.m. – Little Shrimps Children’s Downtown Parade
Sunday, Sept. 26, 11 a.m. – Whimcycle Shrimpcycle followed by tailgate party for the Houston Texans vs. Dallas Cowboys football game. Pre-registration is required.
For registration and more event information go to www.galveston.com/shrimpfestival.
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