South Beach Seafood Festival

To celebrate the October kickoff of Greater Miami & Miami Beach’s famed stone crab season, the South Beach Seafood Festival is throwing its 14th annual shindig with four days of fabulous VIP dinners, cocktail parties, chef showdowns, special events and more, culminating in the main event, the all-day Seafood Slam festivities at oceanfront Lummus Park in South Beach on Saturday, October 24.

Check in to Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the festival’s official hotel, and prepare to eat, drink and indulge alongside 15,000 other seafood lovers. The event benefits CI Foundation’s EAT SMART program, which provides healthy meals and nutritional guidance to youth in public schools across Miami-Dade County.

2025 South Beach Seafood Festival

VIP Dinners & Parties

From Wednesday through Friday evening, a series of upscale dinners and parties will be held at local restaurants and venues across South Beach.

An Evening by Carbone

Wednesday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m.

The South Beach Seafood Festival will host an intimate dinner by Carbone, the trendy Italian import from New York City, in an event space a few blocks away from the South of Fifth restaurant. The four-course dinner will feature Carbone’s signature dishes (think Caesar alla ZZ, spicy rigatoni vodka and more) paired with premium cocktails featuring Jack Daniels, including Sinatra Select whiskey.

An Evening in Miami Beach

Thursday, October 24 at 6:30/7 p.m.

Take your pick from a range of dinner parties across South Beach. Each dinner will feature four or five courses paired with premium wines and cocktails. Pubbelly Sushi will host a special dinner in collaboration with Phuc Yea, featuring the restaurants’ executive chefs, Jose Mendin and Cesar Zapata, blending modern Asian and Latin flavors with premium Oishii sake. Catch Miami Beach and executive chef Gianni Lamboy will host a globally-inspired seafood feast paired with Herradura cocktails. And Rao’s, the classic East Harlem red sauce staple with a new location at Loews Miami Beach, will host a sumptuous Italian dinner featuring timeless recipes paired with Glenfiddich and Hendrick’s gin cocktails and pours.

VIP Chef Showdown at Lummus Park

Friday, October 25 at 7 p.m.

Friday evening’s exciting VIP Chef Showdown, hosted by Food Network celebrity chef Robert Irvine, will feature 20 talented chefs in 10 battles for an epic beach bash showdown where only one will emerge as the winner. VIP attendees can sample the chefs’ creations throughout the night and vote for their favorite bites. This year’s battles will include taco, crab, sushi, surf ‘n’ turf, salmon, shrimp, ceviche, seafood pasta, tuna and lobster categories. The evening promises to be a fabulous beach party with live entertainment, tropical cocktails and beats by DJ PaulE.

The Main Event

Seafood Slam at Lummus Park

Saturday, October 26 at 1 p.m.

The all-day Seafood Slam mega-seafood party will span four blocks of festival grounds. An all-access VIP pass includes a premium open bar plus all you can eat shrimp cocktail, fish tacos, fresh oysters, lobster waffle cones, seafood ceviche, desserts and more prepared by Miami’s finest chefs and seafood restaurants. It’s a true best-of-the-best experience, and participants will vote for their favorite to be awarded Seafood Slam winner. The afternoon will also feature live music and DJs, entertainment, dance parties, beach games and culinary demos, and the Premium Stone Crab Pavilion will offer the chilled seasonal delicacy for purchase.

Ticket Packages

A variety of single-ticket and bundle packages are available, ranging from about $159 for Thursday night’s Pubbelly Sushi/Phuc Yea dinner to $160 for an all-access VIP pass to Saturday’s Seafood Slam and $2,633 for a three-night VIP festival pass plus hotel accommodations for two.

By: Shayne Benowitz | August 21, 2025