Mardi Gras Celebrations, Chili Cookoffs, Winter Festivals and so much more.
Fat Tuesday is less than a week away and the celebrations will be ramping up this weekend. States including Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina will be having one or more Mardi Gras style Festivals to enjoy while West Virginia will be hosting Fasnacht, a German Fat Tuesday Festival.
This weekend also has its fair share of Chili Cookoffs to warm the chill in your bellies, various Beer and Wine Festivals, all sorts of Winterfests and even a Yeti Festival in Michigan.
Florida has the most amount of festivals with diverse themes this weekend. There are fests about Fiddler Crabs, Commercial Fishing, Seafood, Chocolate and Cheese, Strawberries, Wings, Italian Food, Greek Food, Bluegrass, Pow Wows, Battle Reenactments, the Renaissance and the Arts.
Quite a selection.
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If you’ve been curious on my update progress, I am just about done updating everything for the year.
All that means is that I’ve gone through all the listings and updated everything I could concerning the 2023 dates and the embedded link.
I’ll likely check through April-June listings again next month, July-August the month after and so forth.
At any time, if you know the 2023 dates of a festival still marked with an asterisk, please write in and let me know this year’s info. I would be happy to update it right away.
Also, please share these Festival Guides with others as it’s the best way for me to learn about new festivals.
Thanks for reading this week’s post and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Until next week…
Love, Peace and Festival Grease!

Upcoming Festival Weekend: February 16-19, 2023
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MAP of festival and fair food cities this weekend.
If you can’t see the map on your smartphone, click HERE.
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ALABAMA
2/16-2/18 – Vintage Market Days of Birmingham – Hoover – My Review
2/18 – Anniston Museum’s Black Heritage Festival – Anniston
2/18 – Wetumpka Mardi Gras Festival – Wetumpka
2/19 – Joe Cain Day – Mobile
DELAWARE
No festivals this weekend.
FLORIDA
2/16-2/18 – Palatka Bluegrass Festival – Palatka
2/17-2/18 – Olustee Festival – Lake City
2/17-2/19 – St. Mark’s Greek Festival – Belleview/Ocala
2/17-2/19 – St. Sophia Greek Festival – Winter Haven
2/17-2/19 – Fort Pierce Greek Festival – Fort Pierce
2/17-2/19 – Port Charlotte Seafood and Music Festival – Port Charlotte
2/17-2/19 – Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee – Lake City
2/17-2/19 – Port St. Lucie Italian Festival – Port St. Lucie
2/17-2/19 – St. Catherine’s Greek Festival – West Palm Beach
2/17-2/19 – Steinhatchee Fiddler Crab Festival – Steinhatchee
2/17-2/19 – St. Coleman Italian Festival – Pompano Beach
2/17-2/19 – Glendi: St. Barbara Greek Festival – Sarasota
2/17-2/19 – Everglades City Seafood Festival – Everglades City
2/17-2/19 – Crafts on the River (Edison Festival of Light) – Fort Myers
2/17-2/19 – Thunder on the Beach Powwow and Native American Experience – Vero Beach
2/17-2/19 – Thunder by the Bay Music and Motorcycle Festival – Sarasota
2/17-2/19 – Fort Myers Greek Festival – Fort Myers
Weekend continues below…
2/18 – Sanford Mardi Gras Street Party – Sanford
2/18 – SyFy – Bartow
2/18 – Pasco Blues and Bourbon Festival – Land O’ Lakes
2/18 – Enterprise Chili Cook Off – Deltona
2/18 – Localtopia – St. Petersburg
2/18 – Mardi Gras: Paws in the Park – Cocoa
2/18 – Beertopia – Palmetto
2/18 – Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival – Ave Maria
2/18 – Tampa Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival – Tampa
2/18 – Central Florida Chili Cookoff – Orlando
2/18 – JWJ’s Hip Hop Festival – Jacksonville
2/18 – Ribs on the Ridge – Haines City
2/18 – Bonita Brew Fest – Bonita Springs
2/18 – Florida Craft Brew and Wingfest – Vero Beach
Weekend continues below…
2/18-2/19 – Amber Brooke Farm Strawberry Festival II – Williston
2/18-2/19 – World of Nations Celebration – Jacksonville
2/18-2/19 – Deerfield Beach Pioneer Days – Deerfield Beach
2/18-2/19 – Jupiter Seafood Festival – Jupiter
2/18-2/19 – Bay Area Renaissance Festival I – Dade City
2/18-2/19 – Panama City Beach Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival – Panama City Beach
2/18-2/19 – Artigras Fine Arts Festival – Jupiter
2/18-2/19 – Strawberry Fest at Wickham Park – Melbourne
2/18-2/19 – Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival – Cortez
2/18-2/19 – Mount Dora Scottish Highland Festival – Mount Dora
2/18-2/19 – Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club Arts and Crafts Festival – Sanibel Island
2/18-2/19 – Florida Renaissance Festival and Craft Village III – Deerfield Beach
2/18-2/20 – Coconut Grove Arts Festival – Miami
2/18-2/20 – Georgefest I – Eustis
2/19 – SWFL Veg Fest – Bonita Springs
2/19 – Gay8 Festival – Miami
2/19 – Pensacola Chocolate and Cheese Fest – Pensacola
2/19 – East West Music and Dance Festival – Tampa
GEORGIA
2/17-2/19 – Konpa to Kizomba Festival – Atlanta
2/17-2/19 – St. Simons Island Storytelling Festival – St. Simons Island
ILLINOIS
2/18 – Westmont Winter Beer Festival – Westmont
2/18 – Ice Jam at the Dam – East Alton
INDIANA
2/18 – Weather the Fort – Fort Wayne
2/18 – 219 Day – Hammond
2/18 – “Frigid Digits” Winter Beer Fest – Indianapolis
2/18-2/19 – St. Demetrios Winter Food Fest – Hammond
KENTUCKY
No festivals this weekend.
MARYLAND/WASHINGTON, DC
2/18 – Stews and Brews – Easton
2/18 – Carnival at the ‘Bin – Ellicott City
MICHIGAN
2/16-2/18 – Frostbite Winter Festival – Harrison
2/17-2/18 – Higgins Lake Roscommon Chamber of Commerce Winterfest – Lyon Township
2/17-2/18 – Shanty Days – Caseville
2/17-2/19 – East Jordan Sno-Blast – East Jordan
2/17-2/19 – Quicken Loans Winter Blast Weekend – Royal Oak
2/18 – Yeti Fest – Suttons Bay
2/18 – Lansing Winterfest III – Lansing
2/18 – Winterfest II – Pentwater
2/18 – Gaylord Alpenfrost – Gaylord
2/18 – Blake’s Chili Cook-Off – Armada
MISSISSIPPI
2/17 – Krewe de Roux Festival Parade and Block Party – Brandon
2/18 – Krewe de Roux Festival: Gumbo Cook-Off – Brandon
2/18 – Carnaval de Mardi Gras and Gumbo Cook-off – Vicksburg
NEW YORK
2/16 – Mac and Cheese Fest – Binghamton
2/17-2/19 – Winter Festival – Mayville
2/18 – NY Ice Wine and Culinary Festival – Fairport
2/18-2/19 – Syracuse Winterfest I – Syracuse
NORTH CAROLINA
2/18 – Asheville Celtic Fest – Asheville
2/18 – Soul Food Feast Festival – Selma
2/18 – The Confection Convention – Fayetteville
2/18 – New Bern Mardi Gras – New Bern
OHIO
Ohio Festivals can be found at ohiofestivals.net/ohio-festivals/
PENNSYLVANIA
2/17-2/19 – Jim Thorpe Winterfest – Jim Thorpe
2/18 – Philly Chocolate, Wine and Whiskey Festival – Oaks
2/18 – Trax Farms Winter Wine Festival – Finleyville
2/19 – Winter Winefest and Market – Bethlehem
SOUTH CAROLINA
2/18 – Aiken Mardi Gras Festival – Aiken
2/18 – Mardi Gras Columbia – Columbia
2/18-2/19 – American Heritage Festival – Lake City
2/19 – Lexington County Chili Cookoff – Lexington
TENNESSEE
2/18 – Tennessee Winter Beer Fest – Townsend
2/18 – Wine in the Winter – Nashville
VIRGINIA
No festivals this weekend.
WEST VIRGINIA
2/18 – Pocahontas County Maple Days I – Hillsboro
2/18 – Fasnacht – Helvetia
WISCONSIN
2/17-2/18 – Fire and Ice Weekend – Sturgeon Bay
2/18 – Celebrate CommUNITY – Fond du Lac
2/18 – Manitowoc Noon Rotary Winter Brewfest – Manitowoc
2/18 – Red Arrow Club Snow Fest – Townsend
2/18-2/19 – Cedarburg Winterfest – Cedarburg
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Festival Schedule Pages
Miami | Tallahassee/Florida Panhandle | Tampa
Akron/Canton | Cincinnati | Cleveland | Columbus | Dayton | Toledo
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