FELLSMERE — The weather Friday night did little to dissuade the crowds from heading out to the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival, though a short rain shower derailed some of the fun and games. An adult drag-race style frog hop competition was rescheduled for Saturday as the skies opened up just as organizers started calling for contestants. Many scattered, seeking shelter under tents as the rain quickly blew through town.
Despite the short-lived shower, laughter continued to peal out in the Midway as children played carnival games and entertained themselves while waiting for seats to dry on the various rides.
“We’re having a great time,” said Pamela Lewis, who came out to the festival with her grandchildren 3-year-old Ember Della Rose Payne and 9-year-old Cheyenne Gerber.
Ember said she liked riding the Ferris Wheel and wanted to ride the Bear Affair next.
They planned to take a break from the rides long enough to watch Cheyenne dance with the Boys and Girls Club on stage.
Lewis said she used to take her children to the Frog Leg Festival – now she takes the grandkids.
“Out here, not much happens,” she said, explaining why she looks forward to the festival each year.
Though some of the activities were postponed to the following day, the rain didn’t slow down the shoppers and browsers who checked out the various vendor booths.
Peter MacGregor, a seasonal resident of Vero Beach from Ontario, was one of several to stop by Jackie Meyers’s booth, JM Ceramics of Sebastian.
Instead of buying a ceramic frog to commemorate the festival, he selected a turtle he said was “pretty.”
The turtle is for his “darling wife,” Wendy, he said. “She said ‘bring me something’.”
“We ate the frogs and I can’t bring myself to look at them,” MacGregor said of buying a decorative frog to take home. MacGregor said the frog legs at the festival were “awesome” and just as good as any he’d had at a restaurant back home.
Meyers has been participating in the Frog Leg Festival for more than two decades, having only missed the first festival.
“I absolutely enjoy the people,” she said. “It’s a family affair and there’s not many of those anymore.”
During the four-day festival, Meyers occasionally takes a break a wanders amongst her fellow vendors’ booths as well as dines on the festival fare. When asked if she goes for the frog legs or the gator tail, she said, “I’m both.”
The festival continues today until 11 p.m. and wraps up Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The festival is located on the Old Fellsmere School/City Hall complex grounds on County Road 512 at Orange Street. Free parking is available along local roads, in the municipal parking lot, and at MESA Park, where a free shuttle will provide transportation.
