The 41st Orange City Blue Springs Manatee Festival returns to Blue Spring State Park

The Orange City Blue Springs Manatee Festival is an annual event celebrating Florida’s most charismatic marine mammal - the manatee!

The Orange City Blue Springs Manatee Festival takes place within the stunning beauty of Blue Spring State Park, and returns this year on Saturday, January 25, and Sunday, January 26, 2025.

With over 10,000 visitors across the two days of the festival, the The Orange City Blue Springs Manatee Festival is the largest event at Blue Spring State Park which is located at Blue Spring State Park, 2100 W French Ave, Orange City.

Visitors to the festival can look forward to three stages of live entertainment, games, arts and crafts, rides, food and more.

Highlight of the festival is visiting nearby Three Sisters Spring, where manatees are easy to see and watch in the clear spring water.

The festival offers a free shuttle to visit the aquatic gentle giants at Blue Spring State Park, a location notoriously known for its manatee sightings.

The water at Blue Spring State Park is kept at a constant 72 degrees. The colder the outdoor temperature becomes, the more manatees will visit the spring, with this years cod weather bringing over 900 manatees so far this year.

In addition to watching the manatees there will be fun for the whole family with Arts & Crafts, Dancing, Face Painting, Shows & Rides, SPCA Adopt-A-Pet, Great Food, Entertainment, Sand Sculpting, Rock Wall Climbing, Bungee Jumping, Balloon Man Shooting Gallery AND MORE.

Entertainment includes the UHS Titan Regiment Band, the World Famous Disconnected K9’s Frisbee Show, plus the Jeff Howell Band From “Monsters in the Morning” 104.1 Real Radio.

To park for the festival, go to the southeast corner of the Kings Bay Shopping Plaza parking lot at US 19 and Kings Bay Drive. There are frequent shuttles to the festival grounds.

Admission to the festival is $13 for Adults, $3 for Children Ages 4-10, and Children 3 And Under - FREE, with Dogs $10 each.

The Manatee Festival uses the funds raised through its annual festival to benefit friends of Blue Spring State Park, Dare Programs and other area organizations. For more details click here.

For the latest news and information on events and festivals in Central Florida, click here.

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