36th Annual Tarpon Springs Seafood Festival is first big event for locals since Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Tarpon Springs Seafood Fest returns

Kailey Tracy reports.

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - The 36th Annual Tarpon Springs Seafood Festival kicked off on Friday and runs through Sunday, but residents and business owners said after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, this year’s festival means so much more.

"This event is a kickoff to normalcy for us to get back to the way things were before the storm," Michele Northrup, owner of Saucy Queen and an event organizer said. "A lot of these shops, they had five feet of water, and we're celebrating them today. We're bringing people out so that they know Tarpon Springs is open," she said.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton’s damage in Tarpon Springs initially forced organizers to cancel the event.

"Because of the storms and because of the damage on the streets and in the stores of Tarpon Springs, we did cancel the event. But a few weeks ago, the city came through with beautiful improvements, and we were able to make everything happen last minute. So amazingly, we're here, it's open, and that really means even more," Northrup said.

Hurricane Helene flooded Lockhart’s Seafood along the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs with about five feet of water.

READ: Treasure Island residents frustrated by backlog in permits to rebuild homes after Hurricanes Helene, Milton

"I lost all my products, my showcases, my freezers, walk-ins," Owner Angelique Lockhart said. "That has all been replaced," she continued. "My boats were not harmed, thankfully, so my fishermen are fishing," she said.

"It’s pretty devastating, to be honest, because you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. You don't know if it is fixable or if it's a complete loss," Lockhart said.

Lockhart was able to reopen, and said this year’s Tarpon Springs Seafood Festival is even more important for local businesses like her own.

"It’s vital for them to stay up and running," Lockhart said.

Northrup said this is the first big event for the area since the storms.

"It was really heartwarming to have the vendors happy to see each other again come together like a family," Northrup said. "A lot of these shops, they had five feet of water, and we're celebrating them today," she said.

READ: Hurricane Milton recovery far from over in the Tampa Bay area one month later

Justin Benedetti, Chef and Owner of Creative Coastal Cuisine, lost half of his roof in the storms.

"It’s a nice change of scenery, a nice change of pace from all of the demo and destruction from the storm," he said about the festival.

"It’s sad because everybody's whole lives are on the curb. So, it's kind of a realization to say, don't take it for granted. Having this event come back on, it just kind of lifts everyone's enthusiasm and their spirits," he said.

The festival features not only seafood from across the area, but also oyster and stone crab eating contests, a master chef competition, live music, local shops, a kid zone and more.

"I got teary-eyed just thinking about, you know, what we've all went through, but it's amazing to watch everybody come together and just hope we're strong, you know," Lockhart said.

"Come out to the docks. We are open. We are not closed. Come out. Support our fishermen. Support our people," Lockhart shared.

The festival is open until 9 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Sponge Docks.

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