Perdido Key Area Events

Warm, sunny days just about year-round make the Perdido Key area a popular spot for special events.

The Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival, held each November at various spots in Perdido Key, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and other nearby communities, offers nearly two weeks’ worth of live musical entertainment. The festival is a popular venue for aspiring writers and musicians to showcase their work.

Probably the oddest local event is the annual Mullet Toss, which takes place the last full weekend of April at the Flora-Bama Lounge. This quirky contest, which regularly attracts several thousand visitors, requires participants to throw a mullet from a designated spot in Florida across the state line into Alabama. In addition to the Mullet Toss, the weekend event includes plenty of music, food, drink, and other fun activities. It’s all in a good cause, too, because a contribution for each fish flung goes to local youth charities.

The Flora-Bama is also the site of the New Years Polar Bear Dip. At high noon every New Years Day, a group of hardy souls welcomes the new year by joining hands and wading into the Gulf of Mexico. The reward for getting cold and wet is a dish of black-eyed peas.

Just down the road in Pensacola are two events that have received national attention. The Pensacola Beach Air Show, featuring the Blue Angels flight demonstration team, is held every July and always attracts a crowd. The Blue Angels Air Show, held in November, is the final air show of the season for the Angels, who spend much of the year traveling the nation with their precision jet performances.

To the west in Gulf Shores, more than 300 vendors gather each October for the National Shrimp Festival. Displays at the four-day festival include arts, crafts, clothing, jewelry, and other retail goods.

Check out our calendar of events for an up-to-date list of what’s going on while you’re in town.