Eating your way through the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival was no easy feat, especially on your wallet. Across from every stage, a row of food vendors set up in booths, further supplemented by food trucks and stands throughout the sprawling festival grounds.
While some festivalgoers clung to the barricades as headliners like Cage the Elephant and The Lumineers took “Be” stage, others drifted towards the outskirts of the crowd, where they could chomp down on Island Noodles or giant pizza slices from the safety of an inflatable “Coochi Couch” or picnic blanket.
At Island Noodles, cooks fired up the heat in giant woks, mixing soba noodles with vegetables and teriyaki chicken ($18) for an explosive, flavorful meal served in classic fold-top style takeout containers. The portion size was filling, almost enough to justify the festival-sized price tag.
Behind the bar
Not far from Island Noodles, Maggie Congdon, a 26-year-old Okeechobee local, tended one of the festival’s many bars. She worked the festival as a volunteer for Healthy Start, a nonprofit that raises money for first-time parents and provides essentials like car seats.
Nonprofits operated most of the OMF bars, she said, with tips going directly to the organization, as well as a portion of each sale. With singles costing $16 and doubles $28, festivalgoers could feel less guilty ordering a Gatorita or Aquachobee Cooler knowing it supported a good cause.
Congdon also took up volunteering for free entry into the festival.
“The people watching is, like, half the fun,” she said, “so being at the bar is amazing.”
Other drink options included frozen daiquiris and margaritas ($16), served in large disposable aluminum cups, filled above the brim from a slushy machine and topped with a tiny, glowing, color-changing ball.
And of course, there were lemonades from Lost Pelican Lemonade, which travels to events and festivals across Florida and Michigan. The Summertime Strawberry ($10) included house-made strawberry puree topped with fresh, chopped strawberries. The Mangochobee was devised as a special flavor for OMF.
Alex Gomes, a 34-year-old Orlando resident, has worked at Lost Pelican for about a year as a lemonade bartender. Lost Pelican had stands throughout the festival, but he was lucky to be near the “Now” stage, one of the main stages and where popular indie-rock band flipturn performed.
“We have a good spot looking at the stage, and we saw a lot of great artists, artists I've never seen before, and the vibes have been pretty good,” Gomes said. “Everyone's been pretty friendly and positive.”
Grub beyond grills
A breakfast option was Tony Waffles, a food truck located between the T Lounge and the Liebrary, an outdoor space filled with books where the inside pages do not match the cover.
Tony Waffles sold waffle pops ($10), rod-shaped waffles on sticks. Toppings did not come in short supply. The cinnamon roll pop’s layer of icing was overpowering, but the dusting of cinnamon sugar made up for it.
To attract customers, someone dressed in a comical waffle suit, waving and dancing, entertaining hungry festivalgoers as they waited over 10 minutes for their treats.
Alex Worman, a 30-year-old software engineer, ordered the chicken and waffles with a pickle. He flew in from Denver for OMF and rented a car to participate in car camping.
“The waffle could have been crispier, but yeah, it is really good,” he said. “I think what upsets me more is how small the pickle was compared to the giant jar of giant pickles”
In previous years, as part of the typical car camping experience at OMF, festivalgoers were welcome to bring their own propane grills to prepare food at their campsite. But because of a county-wide burn ban, propane grills were banned, leaving many feeling stranded and stuck paying festival food prices.
Ahead of the festival, OMF announced Grillachobee, a ring of propane grills located near each campground’s general store that festivalgoers could use in lieu of their own personal grills.
Sean Keeley, a 23-year-old flight student, came to OMF with friends and planned on grilling twice a day. Luckily, his campsite was only a half-mile walk from Grillachobee, but because of the size of the festival, some campsites had a much farther walk.
While he and his crew grilled steaks, burgers, bacon and hot dogs, he also broke down and bought Mac n’ Me mac and cheese ($13), cavatappi in a four-cheese sauce topped with scallions and crushed cornchips.
“I try not to, but when you can’t grill at the campsite, you’re kind of forced to,” he said.
Contact Corey Fiske at cfiske@alligator.org. Follow him on X @coreyfiske7.
Corey Fiske is a journalism senior and the Spring 2026 Avenue editor. He previously served as opinions editor, as well as food reporter for the Avenue. Over this past summer, he was a reporting intern at the Portland Press Herald. In his free time, Corey enjoys watching new TV shows, eating chocolate fudge brownie ice cream and traveling to new places.
