Boater's Guide To Gulf Coast Festivals

If you ever imagined taking your boat down to the Gulf Coast, to explore the beautiful hideaway anchorages, to enjoy terrific downhome cooking, or to catch some of the best small-town festivals in the entire country, this is the year to do it.

If you needed another excuse to head south this year to check out some fine jazz, have a glass of wine, go fishing, or eat a giant omelet, we've put together a list of some of the festivals that line the water from Florida to Texas.

Fiesta Of Five Flags

Pensacola, Florida

A celebration of Pensacola's founding in 1559, the 10-day Fiesta of Five Flags gets its name from the different standards that have flown over that city, from Spanish to British to the U.S.A. For the insiders, there are Mardi Gras-style balls and krewes, and the annual crowning of Don Tristan de Luna (to stand in for the founding conquistador) and his queen. For the rest of us? Parades, seafood, music, airplanes, boats, and then probably some more seafood. FiestaPensacola.org

Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo

Grand Isle, Louisiana

The Tarpon Rodeo lays claim to the title of oldest fishing tournament in the United States, and since 1928, tens of thousands of visitors have come to try their hand at battling the huge game fish, or to just enjoy the beaches and the Louisiana cooking. There are events for the whole family including children's crab races, educational booths and local bands. The tarpon had better mark their calendars for the last full weekend in July. TarponRodeo.org

Shrimp & Petroleum Festival

Morgan City, Louisiana

Named for the twin engines that drive the Morgan City economy, the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival is billed as Louisiana's oldest harvest festival. This is Cajun country, with everything that comes along with it, so we're talking food from jambalaya to alligator to (naturally) shrimp. Listen to Cajun and zydeco music in downtown Morgan City's Lawrence Park, and check out one of the South's largest showing of artists and craftsmen on Labor Day weekend. ShrimpandPetroleum.org

Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival

Madisonville, Louisiana

The Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival draws around 30,000 people every year to the banks of the Tchefuncte River. Benefiting the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, the festival includes all the classic boats you can ogle, from runabouts to trawlers, plus activities for the kids and a 14-hour "quick and dirty boat-building contest," along with music, food, and parades. WoodenBoatfest.org

National Shrimp Festival

 Gulf Shores, Alabama

For nearly five decades, this four-day event celebrates shrimp and every conceivable manner of it's preparation. Sand sculpture, a children's activity village, arts & crafts vendors, 5K and 10K races,  two stages of music, and admission is free, leaving you with more to spend on shrimp. MVShrimpfest.com

Giant Omelette Celebration

 Abbeville, Louisiana

For the past 27 years, Abbeville has joined with other French and Francophile towns around the world to commemorate what must have been one heck of an omelet. According to legend, the breakfast in question was eaten by Napoleon's troops as they marched through southern France, but it lives on in memory, and at omelet celebrations from Belgium to Argentina. Abbeville's 5,000-egg (Cajun) omelet shares the plate with antique car and tractor shows, bands, and a juried art show. And yes, you get to eat the omelet. GiantOmelette.org

Biloxi Seafood Festival

Biloxi, Mississippi

At the start of the 20th century, Biloxi, Mississippi, had a reputation as the seafood capital of the world, so it's safe to say they know a thing or two about the subject. More seafood than you can possibly consume, served with a side of zydeco and jazz music. Still not convinced? How about this: There's a gumbo cook-off, and festival-goers get to sample the entries. Facebook.com/BiloxiSeafoodFestival

Plaquemines Parish Fair & Orange Festival

Buras, Louisiana

It probably comes as no surprise that the Plaquemines Parish Fair & Orange Festival at historic Fort Jackson centers around oranges; from the crowning of the orange king and queen, to the contest for the longest continuous peel. You can also display your non-citric talents (and win prizes) in shrimp peeling and deheading, duck calling, and catfish skinning, or just go on a helicopter or carnival ride, or see how many kumquats you can fit in your mouth. OrangeFestival.com

Annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Blues & Heritage Festival

Pascagoula, Mississippi

Since 1991, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Blues Commission has been hosting local and national acts to benefit the region's youth and preserve the heritage of the blues tradition. A few years ago they added a second day of gospel music, so you can get the blues on Saturday, then get right on Sunday. MSGulfCoastBluesfest.com

Gecko Fest

Gulfport, Florida

Gulfport is an artsy little beach town just outside St. Petersburg, and at the end of the summer, it celebrates a Florida transplant who has managed to thrive in the Sunshine State — the south Florida house lizard. Wear your gecko hat (available onsite, should you forget yours), check out the music, vendors, and walking parade, but save some energy for the end-of-festival street dance, where renaissance fair meets Mardi Gras ... except, you know, with lizards. Geckofest.com

The Great Texas Mosquito Festival

Clute, Texas

Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. Every year, the small town of Clute, Texas, turns a liability into an asset with a celebration of the unofficial Texas state bird. Music, barbecue, carnival rides, and of course a mosquito calling contest draw thousands every year. Suggestion: insect repellent. MosquitoFestival.com