Festivals and Events in Sebastian, Florida

Sebastian's festival year follows a steady order at Riverview Park: the Sebastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music Festival in mid-January, Shrimpfest in March, the 4th of July Freedom Festival, and the Sebastian Clambake in early November.

The City of Sebastian sets out the same order on its own Government page: the Fine Arts and Music Festival in mid-January, Shrimp Fest in mid-March, Earth Day in April, the 4th of July celebration and the Sebastian Clambake in early November, with Concerts in the Park on Friday nights. One change since that page was written: the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce now lists the Sebastian Craft Brew Hullabaloo in December rather than with Shrimpfest (Sebastian River Area Chamber).

Three nonprofits, not Sebastian City Hall, produce the three largest Riverview Park festivals: the Sebastian Clambake Foundation, the Rotary Club of Sebastian Recreational Foundation, and Sebastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music Festival, Inc.

The Clambake comes from a coalition. The Sebastian Clambake Foundation, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is made up of local public service entities, and it dedicates proceeds to regional non-profit programs and capital improvement projects. The foundation reports it has granted over $1,000,000 to local charities around Sebastian. Its site bills the 2026 event as the 23rd Annual Sebastian Clambake, set for November 7 and 8, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with free admission and tickets sold on site for food (Sebastian Clambake Foundation).

Shrimpfest belongs to the Rotary Club. Shrimpfest is hosted by the Rotary Club of Sebastian Recreational Foundation and the City of Sebastian, runs two days with a Sunday car show, and sends its profits to youth sports groups in the Indian River area; the organizers say the program has raised over $350,000. The 2026 beneficiaries named on its site included SRHS Boys Lacrosse, SRHS Lady Sharks Basketball and the Sebastian Sharks Youth Football and Cheerleading Association. The next Shrimpfest is March 20 and 21, 2027 (Shrimpfest). The 2026 edition filled Riverview Park on March 21 and 22, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day (City of Sebastian calendar).

The art festival has its own corporation. Sebastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) whose purpose is to promote appreciation of the arts in Sebastian, and it lists Sebastian Elementary School, Treasure Coast Elementary School, the SRHS Drama Troupe and the Sebastian River Art Club among groups it has supported. Its site gives the next show as January 16 and 17, 2027, 10 to 5 on Saturday and 10 to 4 on Sunday, and lists a $25 artist application fee and a $200 booth fee (Sebastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music Festival). The site gives no edition number for the show.

The City of Sebastian Parks and Recreation department keeps its own Signature Events list, ten dated entries for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year, running from Sebastian Kids Fest in October to Touch and Tour in September.

The list for October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026 ran in this order: Sebastian Kids Fest at Riverview Park on October 4, 2025; the Halloween Costume Contest on October 24, 2025; Holiday Light Displays city-wide from mid November to early January; the Christmas Parade on the Sebastian Waterfront on December 6, 2025; the Easter Egg Hunt and Movie Night on April 3, 2026; Earth Day on April 18, 2026; a Summer Kickoff Concert on June 5, 2026; the July 4 parade and Riverview Park fireworks; and Touch and Tour at the Sebastian City Hall campus on September 12, 2026 (City of Sebastian Signature Events).

Earth Day doubles as a cleanup day. The 2026 Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Riverview Park, with a Waste Management recycling and spring cleaning event from 9 a.m. to noon: paper shredding and electronics in the overflow lot on the south side of Riverview Park, and large household items at the Barber Street Sports Complex (City of Sebastian Natural Resources Board).

Independence Day is the longest city event day. On July 4, 2026 the parade began at Davis Street at 8:30 a.m. and ran along Indian River Drive to Riverview Park, the Freedom Festival opened at 10 a.m., and fireworks from the twin piers began over the Indian River Lagoon at 9 p.m., all free (City of Sebastian calendar).

Sebastian festivals gather at Riverview Park because the city designed it as its event ground: a lagoon-front park at 600 U.S. Highway 1, on the corner of County Road 512 (Sebastian Boulevard), that the city calls its primary event and gathering point.

Riverview Park is the primary event and gathering point for the City of Sebastian, in the city's own words, and the facilities page names the Clam Bake Festival, the Sebastian Fine Arts and Music Event, the 4th of July Freedom Festival, Shrimpfest and Craft Brew Hullabaloo and the Rhythm on the River concert series as its major events, along with Earth Day, Craft Club shows, Art Club shows and the Easter egg hunt. The same page lists the Splash Pad, the Veteran's War Memorial, sand volleyball courts, picnic pavilions and the twin piers, and notes that the park is the starting point for walkways along the Riverfront District. Park rental questions go to Parks and Recreation at (772) 228-7054 (City of Sebastian, Riverview Park).

The Sebastian Community Redevelopment Agency paid for much of the event ground. Its project list records Riverview Park Phase I (a boat dock, landscaping and shoreline stabilization) in 2001, lighting, restroom upgrades and power outlets in the park, an upgraded overflow lot south of Riverview Park, and paving and lighting of the Cavcorp lot just north of the park in 2016. The CRA also records continued financial support for the Clam Bake, Shrimpfest, the Concerts in the Park Series and the Fine Art Festival since 2000, and it funds the holiday decorations along the riverfront business district (Sebastian CRA projects).

Festival money has flowed back to the park as well. On July 14, 2021 the Sebastian City Council approved a five-year agreement with the Rotary Club of Sebastian for an annual four-hour Brewfest at Riverview Park, with 25% of the proceeds going to the city for the park, the Splash Pad, the Veteran's Memorial and parking (Sebastian Daily, July 20, 2021).

Between the big festivals, the Sebastian calendar fills with Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce evenings, Sebastian River Art Club show days at Riverview Park, police community nights and the Pelican Island refuge anniversary.

The Chamber runs four recurring events of its own. Concerts in the Park are free and run January through May at Riverview Park; Grill Out Night falls on the first Friday in August, when businesses around Sebastian open their doors along a printed map; the Longest Day, Longest Ride Charity Surf Contest is held each June near the summer solstice; and Light Up Night falls on the first Friday in December (Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce).

The art club is older than the festivals. The Sebastian River Art Club was formed in 1937 by a group of local artists, and the present club, recognized by the City of Sebastian, organized in 1972 (Sebastian River Art Club). It is a separate group from the January festival organization. Its 2026 to 2027 Fine Art and Paintings Show flyer lists Saturday shows at Riverview Park on October 10 and 31, November 14, December 5 and 6, January 9, February 6 and 20, March 6 and April 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sebastian River Art Club events).

The refuge festival began as an anniversary. Local citizens organized the 90th anniversary celebration of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in 1993, which became the first Pelican Island Wildlife Festival, and the group that formed afterward is now the Pelican Island Conservation Society (Pelican Island Conservation Society).

The fall 2026 Sebastian calendar starts at Riverview Park with the police Community Night Out on October 15 and builds to the 23rd Annual Sebastian Clambake on November 7 and 8.

October is busy on the riverfront. The City of Sebastian calendar lists the Craft Club of Sebastian October Market Day on October 10, the Sebastian Police Department Community Night Out from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. on October 15, the Sebastian Halloween Costume Contest at 5:30 p.m. and a Sebastian Police Movie Night at 7:15 p.m. on October 23, and the Junior Blue Water Open youth fishing day from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on October 24, all at Riverview Park (City of Sebastian calendar, October 2026).

December dates were still open. As of October 11, 2026, the City of Sebastian's December 2026 calendar showed council and board meetings but no Christmas Parade date (City of Sebastian calendar, December 2026); the 2025 parade was held on the first Saturday of December, December 6.

Art festival edition numbers are not published by the organizer. The 2026 show ran at Riverview Park on January 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and January 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the City of Sebastian calendar, which gave no edition number (City of Sebastian calendar, January 2026), and neither the festival's own site nor the Sebastian River Art Club site states one. Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the City of Sebastian website.