FELLSMERE — For the first time in six years, the Frog Leg Festival sold out of its famous frog legs with just a couple hours left to go. The gator tails stuck around a little while longer – but coleslaw was the first to go.
“It’s good and it’s bad,” said entertainment coordinator Sharon Anderson of the prospect of selling out of frog leg dinners. It meant some people who waited until the last minute to get to the festival would have to go without frog legs – but it also meant more money had been raised for youth activities in Fellsmere.
Sunday was the last of the four-day festival held on the grounds of the Old Fellsmere School/Fellsmere City Hall and the weather, like the previous days, was warm and sunny. Tens of thousands of people descended on the grounds over the course of the festival, taking in the food, the rides and the musical entertainment.
On Sunday, though, there was a little something extra to entertain the crowds – a frog hopping contest for all ages. Children as young as 2 selected a frog from the Indian River Airboat Association’s tub and raced them along the stage.
The crowd helped get the races started, shouting, “Ready, Set, Ribbit!”
Five-year-old Alex Vadney’s frog won his division. Alex kept shouting “Go froggy!” and goosing his frog to get it to jump.
His 2-year-old opponent’s frog had difficulty staying on the stage and ended up in the grass.
O.J. Torres, 8, won his division.
“He was a little crazy,” Torres said of his frog. “I just kept saying, ‘Keep going, keep going!’”
The Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival has been going strong for more than two decades, selling frog leg and gator tail dinners to raise money for the City of Fellsmere’s youth recreation.
This year, the festival had 7,000 pounds of meat – 4,000 pounds of frog and 3,000 of gator – and expected to dish up more than 12,000 meals. New this year were frog leg “pops” – one frog leg on a stick for a couple bucks. The idea for the pops came from wanting to give people the chance to sample the delicacy without having to commit to ordering a full meal, according to longtime festival organizer Fran Adams.
Once organizers recover from this year’s event, they plan to regroup and get started on planning next year’s festival.
