Having the Seafood Festival at Fontainebleu State Park is absolutely genius. There are trees and there is “swimmable” water (though my kids stunk when they got out) *ewwww*. The Dew Drop Stage is right in front of you at the front gate and the AT&T stage is back on the beach. A few tidbits for you:
***Admission: military, children under 10 and Senior Citizens get free admission, $10 admission everyone else. I think the Summer of Love concert fee may have mislead people to believe that the festival price was $40 – not so.
***Hours:
Sat July 5 11:00am gates open
showtimes 12:00pm till midnight
Sun July 6 11:00am gates open
showtimes 12:00pm till 10:30pm
***Food & Drink: Yum!!!! $8 seems to be about the average price per plate.
*** Parking: Er-uh well…let’s just say if you plan on staying until closing or after a major event (we stayed for the fireworks), you might want to go by the Clark Griswold principal by parking the farthest away so you can be the first to leave. You can park at the Castine Center and take a shuttle too. Last night there were tons of shuttles, but the traffic wasn’t moving so they were backed up with everyone else. I’m sure that will be ironed out for next year. Also, please drive in and out with caution as there are people and kids walking the streets. I was terrified about hitting a kid last night!!!
Update from the forum today:
We had no idea our move to the park would be so well received. Crowds were much larger than expected and we and the Sheriff’s Office were overwhelmed.
Festival organizers met with the Sheriff’s Office at 2:00 this morning to layout a better traffic plan. We have also increased the number of shuttle buses available.
THIS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED TODAY!
We would like to thank the Sheriff’s Office for their help and prompt attention to this issue.
I will also point out that as bad as traffic was at its worst, patrons handled it with a great attitude. People understood our growing pains and were very pleasant and forgiving. We are extremely grateful for the words of encouragement and the promises to return today and tomorrow.
In closing, we invite you to attend the greatest show on the northshore which benefits numerous local charities. Our schedule is posted at http://www.seafoodfest.com
***Clothing: If you bring kids, put them in their bathing suits with a cover up. They will somehow end up swimming at the beach!
***Chairs and blankets: If you want to have a general meeting spot or want to see a band play later, claim an area!
***Shoes: comfy and nothing good!
***Designated driver: Have one! You will be pulled over on the way out as there are ten gazillion police!
***RV park: We may have to break down and do this with our friends next year! What a great way to enjoy the festival!!
***Don’t forget: Bug spray and sunblock!
***(update) Check out My Bayou Vieux for her take on the festival
***Listen to Kiss My Gumbo radio on WIST AM 690 each Saturday from 3:00-4:00.
Thanks for the info. I was very curious how the new venue and parking were going to work out. I thought there would be no parking at the park, only at the Castine Center with shuttles. I didn’t want to be the guinea pig, though, but I am sorry I missed Bernie Cyrus’ show in the process of waiting this one out. Sounds like a lot of fun, though.
I heard Bernie on the exodus out. He sounded great!
Stop by my blog for a few pics from last night at the festival. We had a blast despite the exiting issue. We all just yukked it up on the bus ride out and made light of it. I kept telling everyone the same thing. Growing pains! They will get better. I could not believe the crowd!