The 83rd Annual Sanibel Shell Festival

The Sanibel Shell Show is  part of the Sanibel Shell Festival that is held on  the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of March. This, the 83rd Annual Sanibel Shell Festival, is the  largest and longest running shell show in the United States. The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club sponsors the show and distributes 100% of the profits from the show as gifts, grants & scholarships to marine educational programs.

Sign board of the Sanibel Community House, location of the Annual Shell Show

Front yard of the Community House, facing Periwinkle Way

The outdoor shell festival itself is free. It features shells, shell art, crafts, and books for sale.  Admission to the shell show indoor exhibit in the Sanibel Community House is a $5 per-person donation. With this you also receive a bag of shells and a half-price ticket to the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum. 

A vendor’s tent at the Shell Festival

Portico of the Community House and entrance to the shell show

Sandwich board advertisement for the show

Inside the shell show, competitive  categories consist of the Scientific Division and the Artistic Division. Shell collectors and artists from around the world take part in the competition, and awards are made in a variety of categories. The 2019 festival brought in nearly 4,000 people to the exhibit hall at the Sanibel Community House. Chances are the festival this year will be bigger than ever.

Overview of the exhibit space

The Grand Hall exhibit area of the Scientific Division is in the foreground. In the background is the adjoining Community Room, where the Artistic Division is on display. The Scientific Division focuses on single shells and shell collections from Florida and around the world. The Artistic Division features works of art created primarily with shells and other sea life.

Bob, a visitor from Boston,  looking over the exhibit

Pink Conch Shell

Shells of the Florida Keys

Hawk Wing Conch, Sanibel Island

Florida Fighting Conch from Blind Pass, Sanibel Island

True Tulip, Sanibel Island

Giant Atlantic Pyram, West Eleuthera, Bahamas

Gold Banded Cone, Kice Island (near Marco Island), Intertidal

Endive Murex, Bantayan Island, Cebu, Philippines

Turbinella laffertyi, Sofala Beira, Mozambique

Epitonium

This shell received the award of “Shell of the Show.” It was dredged at 100 fathoms, near Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands

 Epitonium

Concave Scallop from San Carlos Bay, Sonora, Mexico

Bleached coral on display

Spiraling shells

Speckled Swimming Crab, Kice Island, Florida

Horseshoe Crab

Ammonite, Somerset, England

Photo Op with half-body mannequins embellished with shell swimsuits

Meet Sandy the Sunbather and Hank the Hunk

Overview of the Community Room, where the Artistic Division was on display

Floral Shell creations

Star Shell

Floral shell creations

Shell Chrysanthemums

Shell wreaths

Shell-framed mirror

Shell peonies

Shell rose

Shell lamps

Shell star lamp

Sip N Shell shop

Mashamboy Initiation Mask, Kuba Tribe, Democratic Republic of Congo, West Africa

Shell pumpkin

Shell Christmas tree

Shell-decorated jacket

Beach scene

Butterfly (?) sea life creation

Hand-carved turtle and seascape

Orange-tinged seashell design

Sailing ship

Van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night rendered in shells

The Mermaid Crown by Todd Alan made from gold and platinum and diamonds and other precious stones.

Adorned jewelry box

Pink Sailor’s Valentine

Sailor’s Valentines are a form of seashell art, popular in the 1800s, when sailors brought them home to their wives, girl friends, mothers or sisters. This is the traditional octagonal shape.

Sailor’s Valentines

Most Sailor’s Valentines were made in the West Indies on the island of Barbados between 1830 & 1880. People thought that sailors made them aboard ships,  but in reality, almost all were made in Barbados for sale to British & American sailors.

Oval tray

White Cornflower

US flag

Seahorse shell creation

After viewing the show, we were supposed to vote for our favorite in both categories, scientific and artistic. This was an impossible task--there were just too many beautiful displays, but the seahorse in the artistic display and the endive murex in the scientific category were standouts for me. What did you think?