Swamp Cabbage Festival

The Cabbage Palm is the Florida state tree, it has a variety of names, one is called Swamp Cabbage. The old time Floridians who lived in the outbacks were called Crackers, they used the heart of the swamp cabbage as a vegetable. Unlike the hearts of palm that are canned and come from South America, the Cabbage palm has a large core that is edible. At the festival they were served as fritters, in soup, French fried and probably more. We tried the fritters and they were very good.

All kinds of food was available, including alligator. This is a big event for LaBelle, folks from miles around attend, it starts with a big parade, rodeos, music, cloggers, etc. We stayed for several hours, finished it off with a big ice cream cone.




Nita with a cup of swamp cabbage fritters




I like this sign, and they don't lie, they state that they have sold under one million plates of alligator.




No Florida festival is complete without an armadillo race, yes you could place bets, a race every 15 minutes. Kids raise the starting gate, the kid on the right didn't get his side up for a good start.




Number 6 was in the lead until some bettor threw in some food crumbs and distracted him. There should have been an official protest but alas, none. Number 2 won and 6 had to be carried back to the barn.

Location:LaBelle