Fri · Jun 19·5–9p
Friday Night Market
Downtown Park Ave · Chiefland
40+ vendors, live music, food trucks, and string lights down Park Ave.
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Welcome To The Front Porch
Discover local businesses, events, stories, hidden gems, and the people shaping Levy County.
This Weekend
What's happening on the porch.
Sat · Jun 20·10a–4p
Chiefland Watermelon Festival
Buie Park · Chiefland
The 67th annual Levy County tradition. Kids' rides, watermelon-eating contest, parade.
Sat · Jun 20·7–10p
Acoustic Saturday at The Pavilion
Suwannee River Pavilion · Fanning Springs
Local songwriters trade songs in the round under the lights.
Sun · Jun 21·9a–1p
Cedar Key Sunday Brunch Market
Dock St · Cedar Key
Coffee, pastries, oysters, and locals catching up dockside.
Featured Stories
The people behind the porch.
Local Business
Three Generations on Main
How the Starle family kept a 1962 feed store alive — and turned it into the heart of downtown Williston.
Jun 8, 2026 · 5 min read
New Around Town
The Coffee Tent That Became A Cafe
Jordan Fell sold his first cup out of a pop-up tent at the flea market. Two years later, he's got the busiest window in Chiefland.
Hidden Gem
The Spring The Locals Won't Name
There's a turquoise pool deep in Levy County that you have to know somebody to find. We won't tell you where — but we'll tell you why it matters.
Local Legend
Captain Mae
She runs the boat. Her brother runs the kitchen. Together they run one of the best restaurants in Cedar Key.
Discover
Local businesses worth knowing.
Real people, real stories, real places — not phone-number rows. Each profile is built like a mini-website.
ShoppingStarle Mercantile
Williston, FL
A downtown shop stocking goods from makers across the Nature Coast.
Family OwnedFeatured Story
View profile
Coffee & CafeFell Coffee Co.
Chiefland, FL
Single-origin pours, hand-pulled espresso, and the best window seat in town.
Podcast GuestBarnlight Community
View profile
RestaurantReef Dockside Seafood
Cedar Key, FL
Dockside dining with fresh-off-the-boat grouper, oysters, and gulf sunsets.
Family OwnedPodcast Guest
View profile
LodgingManatee Trails RV Resort
Fanning Springs, FL
Full hookups under live oaks, minutes from the springs and the Suwannee.
Family OwnedVeteran OwnedPodcast Guest
View profile
TourismSpring House Kayak
Otter Creek, FL
Guided paddles, wildlife tours, and beginner-friendly springs trips.
Veteran Owned
View profile
ContractorsLevy Lumber & Hardware
Chiefland, FL
Family-owned since 1962. Lumber, hardware, paint, and good advice.
Family OwnedFounding Member
View profile
The Town Square
The Town Square Of Levy County.
The Chiefland Farmers Flea Market is one of the largest gathering places in Levy County — vendors, families, entrepreneurs, visitors, and community members, every weekend, in one place.
Hidden Gems
Places only locals know.
Spring · Levy County
Blue Cypress Bend
A turquoise pool the locals won't name out loud.
Trail · Cedar Key
Shell Mound Trail
1.2 miles of boardwalk through 3,500 years of history.
Restaurant · Yankeetown
The Back Porch
Tucked behind the marina. The grouper sandwich is the move.
Shop · Bronson
The Ott Shed
Antiques and oddities in a 1920s tin-roof barn.
Campground · Fanning Springs
River Bend Camp
Six tent sites on the Suwannee. No power, no cell, no problem.
Experience · Manatee Springs
Sunset Paddle at Manatee
Slow drift down to the Suwannee at golden hour.
The Front Porch Podcast
Conversations with the people shaping Levy County.
EP-018 · Jun 8
Three Generations on Main
The Starle Family · Starle Mercantile
How a 60-year-old downtown shop reinvented itself.
EP-017 · Jun 1
Brewing Community
Jordan Fell · Fell Coffee Co.
From a pop-up tent to Chiefland's busiest cafe.
EP-016 · May 25
Built on the Coast
Capt. Mae Lawson · Reef Dockside Seafood
A captain, a kitchen, and gulf seafood from boat to table.
The Newsletter
Pull Up A Chair.
Join The Front Porch newsletter. Weekend events, new businesses, community stories, hidden gems, and podcast episodes — one email a week, sent on Thursday.