The 2020 National Shrimp Festival, originally set to bring crowds to the Gulf Shores beachfront Oct. 8-11, has been called off. Organizers announced the cancellation in a news release, citing the difficulty of meeting social distancing and public health guidelines at an event of that scale during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision followed a series of meetings between festival organizers, state and local permitting agencies and other stakeholders. Coastal Alabama Business Chamber President and CEO Greg Alexander said the timing of the announcement was intended to give the festival’s many partners time to adjust their own plans.
“This determination is being made now in fairness to the many volunteers, sponsors, vendors, contractors, our local municipalities, and local businesses so they are not put at the disadvantage of a last minute announcement,” Alexander said.
A free, open event built on volume
Part of what made the decision difficult is the very structure that has made the National Shrimp Festival successful for nearly five decades. The festival is free, non-ticketed and ungated, drawing crowds to a family-friendly footprint of food vendors, arts and crafts booths, retail displays, sponsor exhibits and entertainment stages. Because there is no ticketing system, organizers have no practical way to cap attendance or enforce capacity limits — a problem that made compliance with pandemic-era health protocols effectively unworkable.
The festival’s financial model compounds the challenge. Organizers rely on drawing large numbers of attendees who spend money with vendors, in turn supporting the event’s costs. Scaling back the festival’s footprint, trimming concerts or other offerings, or attempting to limit crowds would have both undercut the health rationale for changes and left the festival short of the revenue needed to cover its costs.
Looking ahead to 2021
Shrimp Festival Chairman Spencer Cade said organizers spent weeks weighing alternatives before settling on cancellation as the only workable path.
“There have been many people involved in the collective process of avenues and alternatives to organize and adapt the Festival around the COVID-19 pandemic, but the one thing we’ve always been able to rely on in making an informed calculated decision is ‘the known,'” Cade said. “With COVID-19 and the restrictions and limitations that may or may not exist in October, it would be challenging if not impossible to produce a healthy, profitable, fun, and of course successful Festival for all participants.”
Organizers said planning has already begun for a return in 2021, with an eye toward making next year’s National Shrimp Festival the biggest yet. The Coastal Alabama Business Chamber is also working with The Wharf and the city of Orange Beach on a new event planned for 2021.
“Our goal is to begin preparing now for the 2021 National Shrimp Festival and work toward making it the best yet here in Gulf Shores,” Alexander said. “We are also working with the Wharf and the City of Orange Beach to bring a new and exciting event there in 2021. We thank everyone for your understanding during these unprecedented times and we look forward to the possibility of coming back bigger and stronger next year.”
The National Shrimp Festival has run in Gulf Shores for 49 years, growing from a local celebration into one of the largest annual events on the Alabama Gulf Coast.