Stone Crab Festival celebrates the delicacy's return to Naples plates

The celebration of one of Naples’ most prized delicacies kicked off Friday evening during the ninth annual Stone Crab Festival at Tin City.

Event organizers expect about 25,000 people to attend the Naples tradition throughout the weekend. The event, which ends Sunday, features live entertainment, more than 50 vendors and lots of stone crabs.

The free festival opened Friday with a performance by the Dazzling Delrays from New York.

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The festival celebrates the beginning of stone crab season which runs from Oct. 15 until May 15. It also welcomes people from colder areas of the world that begin to make their way to the region to enjoy warmer weather.

“I didn’t even know this was here," said Tom Finco, who moved from Michigan a year ago. "This is great, This time of year in Michigan we would be experiencing cold, wet, gloomy weather.” 

With red tide and hurricanes, the past two years proved to be a challenging time for marine life. While this season got off to a slow start because of water conditions, seafood business owners stress their food is safe to eat.

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“Stone crab is one of the most valued resources we have,” Kirk Fish Co. co-owner Kelly Kirk said. “People have to be patient and understand that we depend on Mother Nature, she controls everything.”

What challenged stone crabbers this year was Hurricane Michael, said Kevin Rooney, who works for Phelan Family Brands and is one of the event's organizers.

“Michael halted us putting up our traps," he said. "Once you put them in, they are gone for the year.”

For fear that Michael would destroy traps, many stone crabbers delayed putting them up, which they can do as early as Oct. 5.

A lot of planning goes into putting the event together, said Jarrod Caine, one of the event planners.

“The combination of all the restaurants coming together and the coordinating efforts is an amazing thing to see when you consider how big the event has become,” Caine said.

Scott Hollier, the general manager at Pinchers Crab Shack, is celebrating his fifth year serving during the festival.

Hollier, along with other staff, prepares year-round to order equipment, staff the restaurant and train employees for the busy season.

“It’s such a change from being in off-season for so long,” he said. “We love the busy time and all the people it brings."