This was my third time attending the Jacksonville Caribbean Festival hosted at Metropolitan Park…read more This year was extremely hot, so my friend and I didn't arrive until about 5 PM. The music has always been fabulous, and this year did not disappoint. We watched several musicians (and met one) while dancing the night away. I was pleasantly surprised to see the band shell moved to a shady area in the park this year. In prior years, it was on the other side where there was no escaping the sun. You can bring your own chair or blanket. After a little dancing, I relaxed in the grass on a beach towel. We purchased a few alcoholic beverages and drank lots of water to stay hydrated. If you like island music, I highly recommend you check out next year's festival. There is a parade earlier in the day and food vendors.

Ya'll still there? Game over and we some hungry Gators…read more.... Got any grub? Dqmn post wants a dissertation.

We got here early and the food is really great. We had the grilled cheese and its good. Then the…read morefish also was delish . Octopus cooked fabulously, very tender. Bang bang shrimp were just that shrimp. The all around best is OnThe Fly Truck. The pork loaded sweet potato planks, awesome. The ahi tuna n spiced cabbage I could eat a bucket of. But the creme of the creme was the Peanut Butter Chocolate Carmel pretzel. It was to die for. Watch me I'm going back for another one. Yes long lines but what do you really expect. Put 12 of the best restaurants in town in a 2 block area and seer what happens

Jazz Fest returns to Metro Park!! I realize that this is…read moreprobably just a temporary venue while the Jax Landing space gets figured out, but thank you City of Jax - this is the perfect spot! And on top of that, they added Daily's Place too!! Seats, covered seats - away from the heat & elements! And lots & lots of parking ($15) at the stadium. Also - thank you for the variety of food trucks and having the buses available for Cooling Stations. We all mourn the recent loss of David Sanborn - Jax has done a good job adding new artists & juggling the schedule after this tragedy.

We've been attending the Jax Jazz Fest for more than 15 years. We come down from Atlanta and…read morepurchase the "VIP Experience" every year. We just got back from the 2025 fest, and it was the most disappointing of all. Background: The Jax Jazz Fest (JJF) used to be a wonderful experience. Not anymore. They used to provide 3-5 different stages with all types of jazz, smooth, Latin, Cool, Swing...you name it. It used to start around 11 am and go into the night. No more. It's down to one stage with R&B and HipHop artists and some Jazz sprinkled in. It's no longer a Jazz Festival. Gates open around 5 pm most days, so it's less than half the musical choices it used to be. It gets worse. The VIP thing is a joke, an expensive joke. We paid $ 1,200 for the two of us for the 4-day event. It's actually 3 days since the first day is only one performance, usually a little-known act. We parked a half mile from the venue in the VIP lot...and walked in the blistering Florida heat. Through sandy, gritty former parking lots and abandoned former industrial sites. We were filthy from the waist down by the time we finished our hike to the gate. There is only one gate, leaving you with yet another 200-yard walk through the crowd to the undersized VIP tent, which, of course, was full, with nowhere to sit, since it was undersized for the VIP crowd size. Drinks. We paid $60 with a couple of dollar tip for two "signature drinks" that were unidentifiable. Twenty-six bucks each plus tax. You read that right. Watered down and loaded with ice, they were terrible. They stopped providing drinks as part of the admission a few years ago, but the price remained unchanged. A total money grab from the event organizers. The food is unlimited, but doesn't change all day...so how many times are you going back for the same piece of chicken you ate a few hours ago? You'll eat once, pick a little the second go round, and you're done. You'd think they would bring out different choices, some fruit, sliders, wings, maybe some pasta as the day wears on, but no. Same food all day long. So, unlimited food is limited by the poor selection that remains unchanged. Kool and the Gang and Maysa saved the weekend, as did Trombone Shorty. Also, we long ago started staying at the beach in case the JJF disappoints, which is has begun to do more often, so coming from Atlanta, we at least have some beach time. Sunday was rained out for the most part, as was Saturday last year. Do you think they would provide us with a credit for next year's "VIP Experience" since we spent over $300 on the tickets for that day? Nope, tough luck. We're done. No more VIP, since there's nothing VIP about it. Oh, and to be clear, you have to buy the VIP before they announce who is playing, or you pay more for waiting. It's sad what this has become, as we had many happy times in the past.

Really enjoyed the festival. Had been to Amelia Island at least 5 times and finally made it to the…read morefestival. There are very good vendors at this one. Truly a focus on art. A large quantity of non profit food booths that raise money for great causes. Located in a beautiful community with extremely friendly people. Plenty of restrooms and also portapots. Entertainment at the waterfront. Boat cruises. Florida's oldest bar. Mostly paid parking during the 3 day festival. Many nice restaurants located throughout. No charge to go to the festival if you don't need to park.

Oh MY!!! Seriously, I have lived in Jacksonville almost 8 years now and I didn't know about this…read moreevent! Crazy. First- it is chaos, they estimated this year to have 150k visitors for the festival- that's right one hundred, fifty THOUSAND people descending on this little coastal town. They had so many vendors, mostly arts and plenty of food and drinks, not to mention all the great businesses in historic downtown! I went with my mom, we arrived around 10am and it took 30 minutes to find parking. Plenty of local business offered parking for a fee- but it was $10 (a church), $20- most perimeter businesses) & $30 for prime parking right off the main drag. Somehow my refusal to park in a paid lot worked out and we found a vacant street parking spot a few blocks away. AKA- be prepared to walk a lot and also prepared to pay for parking. The the festival- the entire main drag is shut down and every side street for a block both north and south filled to the brim with arts, antiques, garden art and more! They have two festival booths for shopping tshirts and other shrimp inspired merch. Mom ended up buying a pink shrimp festival t-shirt. I LOVED all the various art! Metal, glass, photography, painting, pottery, jewelry- you name it! Mom scored various items from $3 to $50 and I bought copper jewelry from 2 different artists. One from Key Largo- Metal and Fire Designs, I found a gorgeous torch patina cuff bracelet and big, gorgeous earrings. Another woman who lives in Clearwater (originally from Maui) does enamel coated metal jewelry- Uli Kai Designs- she was marvelous! I had a difficult time picking out one pair and ended up buying two! Crabby Patty Pottery was there too, a Fernandina local Potter & so many more. People come from all over too- Georgia, the Carolina's, all over Florida- it's really incredible. Years ago I went to a food festival in Jax and was very disappointed, this event was insanely better and I am adding this to my calendar for next year! Now that I have been, I will be more prepared! Oh & the food!!! Most of the food was on the waterfront, at the end of the main drag- plenty of food tents set up and mom and I had garlic parmesan shrimp from the Shrimp Pie boat. Long line, but moved quickly! I am grateful it was overcast most of the day- it was warm, but tolerable. A Gorgeous day for a festival! I'll have to check the brochure to see if they said how many vendors were there, because it was crazy! Highly recommend, wear comfy shoes, bring a hat, sunscreen and a bag for purchases!

What can I say! Every time I go I have a great time. It wasn't that hot either which was great,…read morecoconut cream donut was just delicious and the steak tips omg the sirloin steak tips were soooooooo good. People were nice, friendly and just fun. Didn't eat as much as I did last time but I did pick up some hot sauces again which are fantastic. I will always recommend this fair so if they're around your area go and have a blast.

I haven't been to a fair in a really long time but I'm so glad that I decided to go to this one. I…read more100% percent agree with other reviewers when they said that this was an organized event. From volunteers to the Sheriff's Office, they got you in, parked, guided to the entrance, kept safe, and made sure you got back to your vehicle via golf carts. We didn't ride any rides as the older we get, the more fragile we think we are lol. The carnival games? I could probably beat them but I wasn't going to let them take my money for a huge stuffed animal that I really didn't need. What we REALLY came here for was the food. My coworker told us, even drew up a map, about where the best vendors were and we made sure that we hit all of the spots. He said he gets the Pickle Ranch Pizza every single year from the specific vendor over by the foodie garden and loves it so much. Sounds odd, but when I tried it I actually liked it. There was another vendor around and down the corner that also had it but for $2 more. He also let me know about the Sweet Tea and/or Lemonade vendor that adds Tajin so I had to get one of those. Didn't realize that it was a frozen drink which made it even better. The "itinerary" also included the candied nuts from The Almond Tree, Amish Donuts from the famous Peachey's Baking Company ( which had a long line so you know they're good), and Tacos from La Taqueria. All fire. Off "itinerary" were the Lobster Roll (good but pricey), the Deep Fried Cheesecake (meh), the Hot Sauces from the Angry Goat Pepper Company (the Serrano, Cilantro, and Chive sauce is now my #1 favorite sauce), the Lemon Lavender Marinade from Barbara's Kitchen Jams (guy was so nice and I'mma sucker for Lavender. gave us some good recipes as well). No animals for us this year, we were beat. Gonna need to come here again.

An excuse for the mayor to have an out door party. Just beer and sprits every where along with pot…read moresmoking foul mouth language music. Not for the elderly young children especially the handicap I was step on pushed ran into even with my white cane out. No police any where but walking down to the river. If you enjoy a big drunk feast you are at home. Been packed in for an hour to watch a small amount of boats since 6:30 poor planning

This is great event!! I've been 2 times and enjoyed myself very much both times! It does get packed…read morebut nothing horrible cause you can watch from either side of the river and it's very spread out! I would recommend getting there a little early to find a spot, pack snacks and drinks! Real drinks too! Then sit back and enjoy the boats cruising by! Crystal invited us to watch this year from a huge boat, a naval museum! That was awesome cause it's front row watching and not crowded! 2 thumbs up! Great free event!

I give a little more than 3 stars. It was only $1 to get in last night. There were free shows - the…read moremonkeys racing on dog's and the Victoria Circus performed the death defying act of riding motorcycles in the cage! The strawberry shortcake was tasty and of course, we came home with strawberries!! You will find plenty of rides and carnival food!!!

This could be a great local event but it lacks in things for adults. You spend over ten bucks to…read moreget in and within five minutes you've seen everything. Try to make this more like the Clay County Fair. Bring in some bigger entertainment or popular local bands. The only thing worth doing is watching the pig races or feeding a few animals.

Enjoy this day with four generations of family great grandmother, mother, daughter, and great…read moregranddaughter! We had a blast ! Watching the shows boating the different vendors and eating strawberry cake combined strawberries ago. This is a family friendly place to go for all ages!

We had a great time at the strawberry fest! Weather was great, it wasn't too crowded, easy…read moreparking! I will say all the food items were overpriced like $18 for a plate of food, and $10/12ish for a boba tea! Omg and the boba wasn't even good, definitely would skip this next year! All the vendors selling goods were interesting and reasonably priced! Loved all strawberry themed stuff! And have to grab a container of plant city strawberries on your way out! :)

Great day to come to the Riverside Arts market as another element is added, Filipino! Every…read moreimaginable Filipino food, plus dozens of other bakery and food truck vendors (see pics). Local artists and craftsmen plus singing, dancing, local businesses. Come check it out under the bridge. This is the best day of the year to visit Riverside!

Florida is not known for Filipinos, but thanks to the military, 20% of Floridian Filipinos live in…read moreJacksonville. (In fact, back in 96, half of the graduating class of my high school were all Filipinos!) Three years ago, the local pinoys and pinays finally got together and decided to start a festival. It's your basic cultural festival. Picture the World of Nations, but just featuring one nation. But Filipino Pride Day is FREE to attend. You got the dancers, the singers, the artwork, the vendors selling food and beer and cold treats to tone down the heat. This yearly festival is held at the Landing and is mostly outside, although a few booths and exhibits are inside the building. Last year, I watched local talent Asia Cruise perform. I hear they are going to have some guests from the Filipino Channel this year. (By the way the festival is October 1 this year if you want to check it out!) I think it's been a long time coming. Tampa has already surpassed Jacksonville in recognition with their Philippine Performing Arts Company folk dance troupe and their Bayanihan Arts and Events Center. I hear there were plans for a local Filipino community center, but construction has been halted. At least there are the yearly festival and the many Filipino restaurants around town to enjoy for now.