February on the Gulf Coast belongs to Mardi Gras, but the parades are only part of the story. The February 2025 events calendar also featured the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, free chamber music concerts on both sides of Mobile Bay, a chocolate and cheese festival in Pensacola, the Orange Beach Seafood Festival and Car Show and an all-you-can-eat oyster celebration at Fort Morgan. This look back at the month shows how the region packs football, food and music around the edges of Carnival season.
The Mardi Gras season was already stirring as February began. The first parade of the local season rolled on Saturday, February 1, 2025, on Dauphin Island, where the Krewe de la Dauphine paraded at 1 p.m. From there, the parade calendar built steadily toward Fat Tuesday, which fell on March 4 that year. With Mardi Gras arriving relatively late in 2025, February offered an unusual amount of room for other events.
The Reese’s Senior Bowl Kicks Off the Month
On February 1, the Reese’s Senior Bowl was played at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile. The game showcases the country’s top senior college football players and NFL Draft prospects in one final college all-star contest, and it has been headquartered in Mobile since 1951.
For fans, the Senior Bowl is as much a week-long event as a single game. Practices at Hancock Whitney Stadium were open to the public throughout the week, drawing NFL coaches, scouts and general managers alongside local fans. The 2025 festivities also included a street party and Mardi Gras Player Parade on January 31, and a post-game concert at Mardi Gras Park following the scheduled parade.
Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the campus of the University of South Alabama, became the Senior Bowl’s home after the game moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The week brings a surge of visitors to downtown hotels and restaurants each winter, and for many local fans the chance to watch future NFL players up close in open practices is the highlight of the football year.
Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival Winter Concerts
That same weekend, February 1 and 2, the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival’s winter concert series returned with the Eastern Shore String Trio performing three concerts in two days. The venues spanned both sides of the bay:
- St. Paul’s Episcopal Chapel in Magnolia Springs
- Government Street Presbyterian Church in Mobile
- St. Francis at the Point in Point Clear
The program focused on string trios from the 20th and 21st centuries. Admission was free, with donations appreciated.
The festival’s choice of venues is part of its charm. Magnolia Springs is a tiny river town known for oak-canopied streets and mail delivered by boat, while Government Street Presbyterian Church is one of downtown Mobile’s historic landmarks, a Greek Revival sanctuary dating to the 1830s. Hearing modern chamber music in spaces like these adds a sense of place that concert halls cannot always match.
Pensacola Chocolate and Cheese Festival
On February 16, the 3rd Annual Pensacola Chocolate and Cheese Fest was held on the amphitheater side of Community Maritime Park in downtown Pensacola. Food trucks and vendors sold chocolate- and cheese-themed items, and beer, wine and chocolate martinis were available.
The festival offered plenty for families:
- A free chocolate and cheese sampling tent
- Contests, including a chocolate pie eating contest whose winner received a trophy and $100 in gift certificates to local restaurants
- Live music
- A kids’ bounce house
- An adult charity beverage bar
Entry was $5, and children 12 and under were admitted free. Vendors accepted both cash and credit cards. Community Maritime Park, home of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos minor league baseball team, sits on the downtown waterfront and has become one of the city’s busiest event spaces.
Orange Beach Seafood Festival and MAAAC Car Show
On February 22, the 33rd Annual Orange Beach Seafood Festival and MAAAC Car Show returned to The Wharf in Orange Beach. The festival draws more than 20,000 people each year and serves as a key fundraiser for Orange Beach schools.
Visitors enjoyed seafood, about 100 arts and crafts booths, live music and a Kids’ Zone with activities. Car enthusiasts found an extensive display of antique, classic and hot rod vehicles lining Main Street at The Wharf. Admission was free, and donations supported Orange Beach schools.
Orange Beach built its own city school system in recent years after separating from the Baldwin County system, and community fundraisers like the Seafood Festival help support programs for students. A late-February festival also gives winter residents and early spring visitors a reason to spend a day at The Wharf before the busy season begins.
Fort Morgan Oyster Fest
That same weekend, February 22 and 23, the annual Oyster Fest was held at The Beach Club Resort and Spa on the Fort Morgan peninsula. Tickets included all-you-can-eat oysters from Navy Cove and Admiral Shellfish, served several ways, with additional festival food for children and adults. Beer and cocktails were available for purchase.
Live music played throughout the day, and more than 40 Alabama-based arts and crafts vendors set up on site. Games, contests and kids’ crafts and activities rounded out the schedule. Tickets for each day were limited.
The Fort Morgan peninsula, stretching west from Gulf Shores toward the historic fort guarding the mouth of Mobile Bay, is also home to some of Alabama’s oyster farming operations. The state’s off-bottom oyster aquaculture industry has grown substantially over the past decade, producing premium oysters raised in floating cages, and events like Oyster Fest give the public a chance to taste what local farms are producing.
Chuck’s Fish Expands to Huntsville
February 2025 also brought news for one of downtown Mobile’s seafood restaurants. Chuck’s Fish, a fixture on Dauphin Street, opened a new location in Huntsville that month. The restaurant, known for Gulf seafood, steaks and a sushi bar, is part of a group that also operates Dharma Blue in Pensacola.
Planning for Future Februaries
Most of these events recur, though dates shift with the calendar and, in some cases, with Mardi Gras. Anyone planning to attend a future Senior Bowl, chamber music concert, Chocolate and Cheese Fest, Seafood Festival or Oyster Fest should confirm dates, venues and ticket details with the organizers.
A few February tips apply no matter the year: check parade routes before driving downtown, bring a jacket for cold fronts that can drop temperatures quickly, and buy tickets early for limited-capacity food events. February may be short, but on the Gulf Coast it is rarely quiet.