The Leesburg city commission has approved a resolution to allow the Shamrockin’ Fest event to be held on March 14 and 15, 2025.
The Shamrockin’ Fest event is put on by the Firefighter Charity Alliance of Lake County.
The event organizer, Brian Gamble, has described the event as a family-friendly festival with an Irish theme. The festival is a Florida Barbecue Association sanctioned barbecue state championship competition site for teams around the state to compete. There will be a beer garden and tastings for the general public. Prior to hosting the event in downtown Leesburg it was held at the Gator Harley Davidson dealership since 2013. The festival is expected to draw approximately 1,000 people per day.
The city has agreed to the closure of Main Street from Fifth to Ninth Street, Market Street from Fourth street to Seventh Street and Fifth Street to Sixth Street during the festival hours
The current estimates of the cost to the city for staff hours, including set up and teardown assistance, stage usage, and Leesburg police officers, is $6,242. This amount does not include the cost for general cleanup post event and the event organizer will be responsible for hiring a professional cleaning company to clean the venue area.