Food & fellowship marked this year’s Gulf County Scallop Festival

PORT ST. JOE, Fla (WMBB) — It’s scallop season in the Panhandle, and Port St. Joe celebrated this special time of year this weekend with the Gulf County Chamber of Commerce’s Scallop Festival.

Several residents and tourists came out to celebrate and sink their teeth into some scallops.

“It’s so cool to be over here with the beverages, with all of the food choices and the great music right here on the bay, and to see them out there, they’re getting scallops out of there. That’s really cool,” Gulf County Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Joe Whitmer said.

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Whether you like your scallops fried, baked, grilled, or wrapped in bacon, festival vendors have something to satisfy your taste buds.

“I got to taste-test fried scallops wrapped in bacon. I’m just saying there is God and there is a heaven, apparently, because He let us have that great yumminess,” Whitmer said.

If scallops aren’t for you, there are plenty of other tasty dishes on the menu.

“There are some grouper sandwiches. I believe a vendor up there, more than one vendor, rather, has fresh Gulf shrimp. Maine lobster was flown in yesterday from Maine. You can come down here and get a Maine lobster roll,” Whitmer said.

There’s also plenty of entertainment for people of all ages.

“We’ve got face painters, we have sand art, and we have other activities for young people. We have plenty of adult activities. We have a beer setup over here. There’s plenty of adult beverages and libations,” Whitmer said.

Vendors and event-goers say the scallop festival brings the community together.

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“The biggest thing for us is a reunion with all the other vendors we see year after year. We come here and we see our friends that you don’t see for a year and you see how they’re doing and how they progress. It’s just a great time, it really is,” Mr. Lemonade stand owner Mike Smith said.

“I love the scallops, so it’s great to see everybody show up here and support Port St. Joe during scallop season,” event attendee Carl Hassell said.

The Gulf County Chamber of Commerce’s next event is Portoberfest on September 21.

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