GULF SHORES, AL ¬— The summer season may have just ended, but plans are in full-swing in preparation for the 45th Annual National Shrimp Festival™ presented by Zatarain’s.

The Festival, dubbed “Alabama’s Original Beach Party” will take place Oct. 13-16 where Alabama 59 meets the Gulf, with an abundance of music, food and art jam-packed into four days of fun.

Produced by the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce, the Festival is regularly named one of the Southeast’s most popular festivals. It’s no wonder, with fresh Alabama Wild Caught Shrimp, more than 80 hours of musical entertainment, a dedicated Children’s Activity Village and almost 300 food, fine art and arts and crafts vendors all nestled along the sugar white sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Shrimp Festival was named the Event of the Year at the Alabama Department of Tourism’s annual banquet in August.

What began as a way to honor the local seafood industry while boosting tourism in the fall season 45 years ago has emerged as one of the largest economic engines along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, generating millions of dollars in revenue for vendors, condo owners, cities and local businesses.

This year the Festival will play host to four full days of musical entertainment on the Alabama Gulf Seafood stage and Wind Creek Casino stage, featuring a lineup of national, regional and local acts.

There will be musical acts to please all palates, including blues, Motown, Southern rock, jazz, zydeco and country. The music begins at 10 a.m. each day and runs through 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Food is another highlight of the Festival. Local and regional vendors will line the boardwalk at the public beach with mouth watering delights.

“We have everybody’s favorite - Rockin’ Rogers Cajun Pistols - back this year, along with vendors selling shrimp prepared almost any way you can think of,” Shrimp Festival Chairman Matt Mogan said. “We’ll also have other food, from corn dogs to ice cream to CocaCola and Nanny’s Lemonade.”

One of the most popular attractions will also be back this year - free shrimp.

“We’ve teamed up several of our sponsors, including Zatarain’s and the Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission,” Festival Sponsorship Coordinator Don McPherson said. “They’ll prepare about 200 pounds of shrimp per day for people to try at different tasting times. We’ll also have some world class chefs preparing some of their award-winning recipes for people to sample.”

Schedules for the tastings will be posted outside the tent.

Outdoor World will be back again, and will feature fishing, boating, hunting and other outdoor vendors and activities. Kids can take part in a myriad of activities in the Children’s Activity Village, including face-painting, karaoke and much more.

Saturday, typically the busiest day of the festival, will start off at 7 a.m. as runners and walkers will meet at the Orange Beach Sportsplex for the Shrimp Festival 5K and 10K races.

The fifth Annual Singing for Scholarships finals will begin at 10 a.m. This competition allows the best high school singers in the county to go head-to-head for scholarships. Families can enter the annual sand sculpture contest that begins at noon on the beach.

Art lovers will have almost 200 booths of fine art and art-and-craft vendors from which to choose. Car lovers will have a chance to preview many of the new 2017 Chevrolet models that will be on display, including Silverado trucks and the award-winning Volt.

The Festival is produced by the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce, presented by Zatarain's and sponsored in part by Chevrolet, Wind Creek Casino, Coca-Cola, Royal Prestige Cookware, Rouses Supermarkets, Baldwin EMC, Nanny's Lemonade, the Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission, GEICO, The Wharf, Lite Beer from Miller, Spectrum Resorts, Bad Boy Off Road, Gulf Coast Chevy Dealers and Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Tourism.

For more information on the Festival go to www.myshrimpfest.com. “It’s going to be a blast for the whole family,” Mogan said. “We hope to see you there at Alabama’s Original Beach Party.”