Grant Seafood Festival — Grant-Valkaria, Florida

The next Grant Seafood Festival in Grant-Valkaria is set for Saturday, March 6, 2027, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 7, 2027, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Grant Seafood Festival information page).

The timing follows a long pattern. The Town of Grant-Valkaria says the festival has been held every year in late February or early March since 1966 (Town of Grant-Valkaria, Festivals and Events). The 2026 edition, billed as the 59th, ran March 7 and 8, 2026, according to the Brevard County Tourism Development Office listing on Visit Space Coast (Visit Space Coast event listing).

The organizer's history page says the festival is heading into its 60th annual event (Grant Seafood Festival history page). That numbering and the town's 1966 start date do not line up exactly, since 1966 through 2027 covers 62 calendar years, and neither the town nor the organizer explains the difference. The 2027 shuttle schedule had not been posted when the Grant Seafood Festival information page was checked on October 13, 2026; the page still showed the 2026 shuttle hours.

The festival grounds are at 4580 1st Street in the Grant section of Grant-Valkaria, around the Grant Community Center, and visitor parking is at Valkaria Airport with a shuttle to the grounds (Grant Seafood Festival information page).

The organizer lists the event grounds at 4580 1st Street, Grant, Florida 32949, the same address it gives for the Grant Library, whose book sale runs on the front porch of the Grant Community Center during festival hours (festival information page). Visit Space Coast lists the venue as 4580 1st St, Grant-Valkaria, FL 32949, with the contact number (321) 327-8720 (Visit Space Coast).

The Town of Grant-Valkaria history page notes that the Bensen House once stood about 300 feet south of 1st Street on the banks of the Indian River Lagoon before it was moved in 1985 (Town of Grant-Valkaria history). That house is now the Grant Historical House, one of the projects the festival pays for.

Parking is off site. The organizer directs drivers to Valkaria Airport, where shuttles run on a continuous loop to the festival grounds (festival information page). Valkaria Airport (FAA identifier X59) is a public-use airport on Valkaria Road, about 1.7 miles west of U.S. 1 (Town of Grant-Valkaria, Valkaria Airport). The organizer also mentions a park and ride lot farther west on Valkaria Road, across from The Habitat Golf Course, and says overnight parking is not allowed. Admission and parking are both free (Grant Seafood Festival home page).

Drivers reach the Grant-Valkaria grounds from I-95 Exit 173 (Palm Bay/Malabar) in the north or Exit 156 (Fellsmere/Sebastian) in the south, then follow U.S. 1 to the signed parking (Grant Seafood Festival information page).

From the north, the organizer's route runs east 4.2 miles on SR-514 from Exit 173, then right on U.S. 1 for 5.8 miles. From the south, it runs from Exit 156 to Roseland Road (CR-505), then left on U.S. 1 for 6.6 miles (festival information page).

Traffic on U.S. 1 is steered during the festival. Northbound drivers are routed off at Shell Pit Road and follow directional signs to parking; southbound drivers are directed to turn onto Valkaria Road (festival information page). Drivers coming from Babcock Street head south and turn onto Valkaria Road from the north or Grant Road from the south.

The organizer places Grant about 12 miles south of Melbourne, 22 miles north of Vero and about 1.5 hours east of Orlando, with entry from either US 1 or Babcock Street. It also warns that Brightline trains cross three times in Grant and that cars must not stop on the tracks (festival information page). For live traffic it points to the Florida Department of Transportation's 511 system.

The Grant Seafood Festival bars dogs and other pets (service dogs must wear a vest or collar), coolers, tents including canopies and pop-up tents, umbrellas and overnight parking (Grant Seafood Festival information page).

The same rules appear on the Grant Seafood Festival home page, which adds that the festival does not accept food or drink vendors because all cooking is done in house (Grant Seafood Festival home page). The organizer says all organizing, purchasing, preparation, cooking and serving is done by community members.

Last verified: October 13, 2026, on the Grant Seafood Festival website. Rules can change from year to year, so the organizer's pages for the 60th festival are the reference for March 2027.

Food and drink at the Grant Seafood Festival are bought with tickets sold in batches of 10, with $10 for 10 tickets as the minimum purchase, and most items cost from 1 to 10 tickets (Grant Seafood Festival information page).

Red ticket booths stand throughout the main festival grounds, and the organizer says it accepts most major credit and debit cards and has ATMs on site, but not mobile pay apps: cash or card only (Grant Seafood Festival home page). Tickets can also be bought at the Valkaria Airport parking site on both days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (festival information page). T-shirts and souvenirs are sold on the west side of the main grounds, cash or credit card only.

The posted menu runs from lobster bisque, clam chowder, raw and steamed oysters, fried scallops and seared tuna to conch fritters, gator bites, smoked fish dip, deviled crab cakes and hush puppies, with key lime pie and strawberry shortcake for dessert, plus beer and wine (Grant Seafood Festival home page). The festival is run entirely by volunteers, and the organizer says many booths are made up of family members, often with several generations working side by side.

The Grant Community Club organizes the festival with an all-volunteer effort, and the proceeds go back into Grant-Valkaria: the Grant Seafood Festival Scholarship Fund, the Grant Community Library, the Grant Historical House and the Grant Community Center (Town of Grant-Valkaria, Festivals and Events).

The Town of Grant-Valkaria page adds that festival money pays for college scholarships for local children and for summer break activities for the community's children. Visit Space Coast describes the same model: 100 percent volunteer driven, with proceeds funding scholarships, community projects and children's programs (Visit Space Coast).

The Grant Community Library is one of the beneficiaries. The Town of Grant-Valkaria says the library is funded by the Grant Community Club and is open Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon; the closest Brevard County branch is the South Mainland Public Library in Micco (Town of Grant-Valkaria, Libraries). The organizer notes that the Grant Library is not part of the Brevard County Library System.

The Grant Historical House, at 5795 South US Highway 1, hosts its own Annual Pioneer Fish Fry to pay for upkeep of the Bensen House (Town of Grant-Valkaria, Festivals and Events). The organizer says the house is closed during the seafood festival (festival information page).

The size of the craft show depends on the source. The town page says over 125 crafters exhibit; the organizer's home page and the county tourism listing both say over 200; and the organizer's information page says over 100 crafters from across the country (Grant Seafood Festival home page).

The Grant Seafood Festival dates to 1966, and in 1968 U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey visited it while campaigning for president, according to the Town of Grant-Valkaria (Town of Grant-Valkaria, Festivals and Events).

The State Archives of Florida holds catalogued items from the festival's early decades. A Florida Memory catalog search for the Grant Seafood Festival returns 23 items, among them items titled Art on display at the Grant Seafood Festival (1978), Frying seafood at the Grant Seafood Festival (1978) and Family eating seafood at the Grant Seafood Festival (1977) (Florida Memory, State Archives of Florida).

Grant itself began on the water. The Town of Grant-Valkaria history page says the area along the Indian River Lagoon was originally settled as a fishing community and records that the Jorgensen General Store opened in 1894 (Town of Grant-Valkaria history). Grant became part of the Town of Grant-Valkaria when the town incorporated in 2006, and the festival has kept the Grant name.

The organizer is building an archive for the 60th festival and asks for old festival photos, programs, newspaper clippings and ticket stubs (Grant Seafood Festival history page).