Every spring on Amelia Island, the first weekend in May brings tens of thousands of visitors to the streets of downtown Fernandina for the annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival. Now one of the largest arts and crafts festivals in the southeast, the Shrimp Festival began in 1964 as a week long celebration called the "Fiesta of Eight Flags."

The highlight of the Fiesta was a pageant called "The Romance of Eight Flags," which was a grand production featuring over 200 residents of Fernandina Beach playing a variety of historical roles. The pageant, held inside Fort Clinch, was done in drama and dance.

Other events during the Fiesta included a music festival, boat and fashion shows, a wild game barbeque and dance, an art show at the Recreation Center (the forerunner to today's festivities), a beauty contest, the Blessing of the Fleet, and the Shrimpboat Races, which were a crowd favorite for many years before being discontinued in the early 1970s mainly due to high fuel prices and safety concerns.

In the years that followed, the arts and crafts part of the festival was moved to Centre Street and surrounding areas of historic downtown Fernandina.

For complete information on this year's festival, to be held April 29 - May 2, please go to www.shrimpfestival.com.

These images and many more of Karl Holland's old photographs of the Shrimp Festival can be seen online at www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection.