LagoonFest Canceled in West Palm Beach as King Tides Flood the Waterfront

LagoonFest 2026, one of the season's first big events in West Palm Beach, has been canceled and will not be rescheduled in 2026, the Palm Beach Post reported Oct. 30. The annual family-friendly festival was scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, along the West Palm Beach waterfront, but was called off because of the ongoing flooding threat from king tides that have inundated Flagler Drive and wide sections of South Florida over the past week.

"Out of an abundance of caution, LagoonFest has been canceled due to forecasted conditions that could affect the event area, including the potential for elevated water levels and localized flooding associated with king tides," said Benji Studt of Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management, in the statement published by the Post. The statement said the safety of attendees, volunteers, exhibitors and staff remains the top priority, and that the event will not be rescheduled this year. West Palm Beach's GreenMarket, which runs along Clematis Street to the waterfront every Saturday morning during the season, will go on as scheduled, according to the city events office.

This weekend would have marked the 13th running of LagoonFest, which teaches residents and visitors about the Lake Worth Lagoon through marine life touch tanks, guided boat tours, a Kids Zone, environmentally themed exhibitors and wildlife exhibits. The Lake Worth Lagoon is a 20-mile-long urban estuary that stretches from North Palm Beach to Ocean Ridge and connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Lake Worth Inlet and the Boynton Beach Inlet; it supports more than 250 species, the Post reported.