Upcoming Southern Festival Weekend: February 12-17, 2026

Food Festivals, Valentine’s Day, the Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras!

Welcome back, Festival Fans.

A lot to celebration this weekend!

Not only is it Valentine’s Day on Saturday (a good excuse for a Chocolate or Wine Festival), but there’s also the Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras.

Of the three, Mardi Gras is the most frequently celebrated in this week’s list, and I was sure to extend this weekend’s dates to include Tuesday so that I could list some celebrations in Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.

Here are some of the festivals that look great for this weekend…

Wetumpka Mardi Gras Festival in Alabama
Fayetteville Mardi Gras in Arkansas
St. Pete’s Super Greek Festival in Florida
Steinhatchee Fiddler Crab Festival in Florida
Bay Area Renaissance Festival in Florida
Edison Ford Spring Garden Festival in Florida
Coconut Grove Arts Festival in Florida
St. Simons Island Storytelling Festival in Georgia
Tee Mamou-Iota Mardi Gras Folklife Festival in Louisiana
Carnival d’ Acadie in Louisiana
Lundi Gras Festival in Louisiana
Carnaval de Mardi Gras and Gumbo Cook-off in Mississippi
New Bern Mardi Gras in North Carolina
Lexington County Chili Cookoff in South Carolina
Chocolate Fest in Tennessee
Cocktails and Spirits Festival in Virginia

If you don’t see any festivals you like (or if there are no festivals going on in your state), you can see what’s going on later in the year via the 2026 Festival Guide.

This week, I’ve been going over May festivals for a second time. Once that is done, I’ll start looking at October.

So keep checking the guide and please share it with others!

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Have a great weekend, everyone!

If you happen to be in Ohio this weekend, check this weekend’s post at OhioFestivals.net to see what’s going on. You can find this week’s post at https://ohiofestivals.net/ohio-weekend-021726/

And here are the other two sections again…
Northern Section: https://festivalguidesandreviews.com/north-festival-weekend-021726
Western Section: https://festivalguidesandreviews.com/west-festival-weekend-021726

Until next week…

Love, Peace and Festival Grease!

Upcoming Festival Weekend: February 12-17, 2026

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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.

ALABAMA

2/12-2/15 – Mardi Gras at MidCity II – Huntsville
2/13 – Spring Lantern Festival at Noccalula Falls Park and Campground – Gadsden
2/14 – Prattville’s Mardi Gras Celebration – Prattville
2/14 – Wetumpka Mardi Gras Festival – Wetumpka
2/15 – Winter Jam: Birmingham – Birmingham
2/15 – Joe Cain Day – Mobile

ARKANSAS

2/14 – Fayetteville Mardi Gras – Fayetteville

FLORIDA

2/12-2/14 – Palatka Bluegrass Festival – Palatka
2/13 – Millennial Asian Street Food Festival – Fort Myers
2/13-2/14 – Olustee Festival – Lake City
2/13-2/14 – Tampa Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival – Tampa
2/13-2/15 – Winefest – Clemont
2/13-2/15 – Everglades Seafood Festival – Everglades City
2/13-2/15 – Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee – Lake City
2/13-2/15 – Jane Austen Fest – Mount Dora
2/13-2/15 – Foodees Food and Culture Festival: Pensacola – Pensacola
2/13-2/15 – Port St. Lucie Taste of Little Italy Italian Festival – Port St. Lucie
2/13-2/15 – Babcock Ranch Seafood and Music Festival – Punta Gorda
2/13-2/15 – Thunder by the Bay Music and Motorcycle Festival – Sarasota
2/13-2/15 – St. Pete’s Super Greek Festival – St. Petersburg
2/13-2/15 – Steinhatchee Fiddler Crab Festival – Steinhatchee
2/13-2/15 – St. Catherine’s Greek Festival – West Palm Beach
2/14 – Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival – Ave Maria
Weekend continues below…

2/14 – Lemon Bay Cracker Fair – Englewood
2/14 – Mutt Strutt (Edison Festival of Lights) – Fort Myers
2/14 – Art in the Park – Moore Haven
2/14 – Mulberry Founders’ Day – Mulberry
2/14 – Localtopia – St. Petersburg
2/14 – Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival – St. Petersburg
2/14 – Florida Craft Brew and Wingfest – Vero Beach
2/14-2/15 – L.B. Brown Heritage Festival – Bartow
2/14-2/15 – Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival – Cortez
2/14-2/15 – Bay Area Renaissance Festival I – Dade City
2/14-2/15 – Deerfield Beach Pioneer Days – Deerfield Beach
Weekend continues below…

2/14-2/15 – Florida Renaissance Festival and Craft Village II – Deerfield Beach
2/14-2/15 – Amber Brooke Farm Strawberry Festival: Eustis I – Eustis
2/14-2/15 – Edison Ford Spring Garden Festival – Fort Myers
2/14-2/15 – Artigras Fine Arts Festival – Jupiter
2/14-2/15 – Florida Keys Seafood Festival – Key West
2/14-2/15 – 321: Food Fest and Craft Fair – Melbourne
2/14-2/15* – Brevard Renaissance Fair III – Melbourne – CANCELLED
2/14-2/15 – Amber Brooke Farm Strawberry Festival: Mount Dora I – Mount Dora
2/14-2/15 – Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club Arts and Crafts Festival – Sanibel Island
2/14-2/15 – Bacon and Bourbon Fest – Wellington
2/14-2/16 – Coconut Grove Arts Festival – Miami
2/15 – Blossom, Brew and BBQ – Gainesville
2/17 – Taste of Oakland Park – Oakland Park
2/17 – Pensacola Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday Priscus Celebration – Pensacola

GEORGIA

2/12-2/15 – Konpa to Kizomba Festival – Atlanta
2/13-2/15 – Colonial Winter Village – Darien
2/13-2/15 – St. Simons Island Storytelling Festival – St. Simons Island
2/14-2/15 – Lunar New Year at Stone Mountain Park I – Stone Mountain

KENTUCKY

No festivals this weekend.

LOUISIANA

2/12-2/17 – Cajun Mardi Gras Festival – Eunice
2/13-2/17 – Le Festival de Mardi Gras – Lafayette
2/14 – Baton Rouge Mardi Gras Festival – Baton Rouge
2/14 – Rayne Mardi Gras Parade and Gumbo Cook-Off – Rayne
2/14 – Krewe of Gemini Mardi Gras Parade/Red River Mardi Gras Bash II – Shreveport
2/16 – Lundi Gras Festival – New Orleans
2/17 – Carnival d’ Acadie – Crowley
2/17 – Tee Mamou-Iota Mardi Gras Folklife Festival – Iota

MISSISSIPPI

2/13 – Krewe de Roux Festival Parade and Block Party – Brandon
2/14 – Krewe de Roux Festival: Gumbo Cook-Off – Brandon
2/14 – Chandy Gras – Gulfport
2/14 – Magnolia State Bank Chili Cook Off – Laurel
2/14 – Biggest Small Town Mardi Gras Festival and Parade – Noxapater
2/14 – Carnaval de Mardi Gras and Gumbo Cook-off – Vicksburg

NORTH CAROLINA

2/14 – Winter Jam: Greensboro – Greensboro
2/14 – New Bern Mardi Gras – New Bern

SOUTH CAROLINA

2/14 – Mardi Gras Columbia – Columbia
2/15 – Lexington County Chili Cookoff – Lexington

TENNESSEE

2/13 – Winter Jam: Nashville – Nashville
2/13-2/14 – Chocolate Fest – Jonesborough
2/14 – Maple Syrup Festival – Johnson City

VIRGINIA

2/14 – Chinese New Year Festival – Falls Church
2/14 – Cocktails and Spirits Festival – Fredericksburg
2/17 – Mardi Gras Festival – McLean

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