TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Hundreds of people showed up to the Tarpon Springs Seafood Festival Sunday, where dozens of vendors sold everything from fresh seafood to jewelry to handmade nautical art.
“It’s a great support for the community and everyone’s coming to help out with the community and help get these businesses back and running because a lot of them were hit very hard with the storm,” said Eden Davis.
The festival took place near the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs. Hundreds of people crowded the streets, going from vendor to vendor to check out all there was to offer with cash in hand.
“It’s been very tough and people want to come out and bond together,” said Gregg Scamm.
This free three-day event, which ended Sunday evening, attracted vendors and people from around Florida but organizers of the festival made it a point to have vendors from right here in Tarpon Springs.
“I feel as my part, it doesn’t take much to come out and help. You know, you can just spend a couple of bucks and help out the community in a big way,” said Davis.
Many brick-and-mortar stores here were completely flooded after Hurricane Helene, forcing businesses to close permanently and causing others to lose money as they made the necessary repairs.
Hellas is a popular restaurant here serving authentic Greek cuisine, and it received major flooding during Hurricane Helene. After making tons of repairs, it won’t reopen until later this week.
Just down the street, you’ll find Tarpon Shell Shack, where you can buy anything from sponges to nautical-themed items. They also experienced flooding.
“We had rivers coming out of the stores. You could see all the way down the road. It was crazy,” said Gatlin Grimes, manager at Tarpon Shell Shack.
They’re just happy that this festival is attracting people to the area to help stimulate the local economy.
"We have plenty of people just seeing what’s now open. So, between us and the restaurants out through here, they are now seeing that we are now strong and open,” said Grimes.
