Much to Celebrate with Sanibel Shell Fare

One of the most exciting and most iconic of Sanibel festivities will be taking place beginning on February 17 and ending on March 4. The Sanibel Shellabration!

The Shell Fair and Show is located at The Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel Island, Florida 33957(239) 472-2155.

The line up of events is diversified, and sure to please every member of the family.

Heard of flash mobs? Well, there will be one of a sort at the Shellabration. Come and do the Sanibel Stoop on Friday, February 17 at 10 am. Meet at Bowman's Beach and help Shellabration make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. The meet up includes a free t- shirt while supplies last. Call 239-472-2155 to register.

Though the beach is the most logical spot to celebrate the sea shells that are so abundant on Sanibel, there are many other locations where Shellabration will have a presence.

At Ding Darling Nature Preserve, there will be a shell-related reading to include shell crafts (Fri & Sat) 11:00 am.

There will also be a free touch tank demo at tarpon Bay Recreation Area with Ranger led walks.

The Sanibel Public Library has "Shell Book Reading Displays" offering more than 350 shell-related books. In addition, your favorite titles and rare books from the reference collection will be on display on the main level of the Library throughout February and March. There will be a Fossil Shell Display - Library Ground Floor with 120 different species, ages from thousands to as much as 5 million years old. Some of the shells are extinct and some are found at the beach today. The fossils are from the Burnt Store area in North Fort Myers.

The Sanibel Historical Museum will have several shell collections on display throughout Shellabration week inside the Rutland Home, Burnap Cottage, Morning Glories and the Schoolhouse. In addition, there will also be a shell collection from Thomas Edison with a letter to authenticate it from Mina Edison.

At Billy's Bike and Rentals all customers (on-line and in-store) will receive a free raffle ticket for a chance to own a signed Shellabration poster designed by Sanibel Artist, Pam Brodersen.

Even our restaurants are in on the shell act. At Cheeburger Cheeburger those who stop can enter a Shellabration kids coloring contest. At The Great White Grill stop by for their specially created Shellabration Micro Brew, and at Sweet Melissa's, enjoy a specially created Shellabration dessert.

As one of the top 3 shelling destinations in the world, Sanibel has bragging rights to show off its most popular reason for being a top tourist attraction for people from all over.