Fellsmere Frogleg Festival

Festival Location: Fellsmere, FL, USA

Festival State: Florida Festivals

Festival Type(s): Food Festivals, Bizarre Festivals

By: © Nelson Taylor 2009

It's hard to imagine frogs being the backbone of any local economy, but since 1990 they've kept the 2,500-person town of Fellsmere, FL, from, well, croaking. All year round, green-gobbling hunters buzz up and down the St. John's River in their high-powered windboats trapping one hell of a load of hoppers, which are then frozen until the 3rd weekend of January when some 80,000 Kermit-loving old coots descend upon Fellsmere to swallow over 6,000 pounds of these crispy critters. "And we leave the toes on," says Beth Perez, Chairwoman for the event. "We need those to pick our teeth."

So, leave your fine dining duds, not to mention your blood pressure gauges, at home. We're talking go grease mountain: a heap of fried froglegs, a mound of thick country grits, several golden brown hushpuppies, and a scoop of mayonnaise-heavy coleslaw. That's right, frog's legs are better than no legs at all!