BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE. Fla. — The second annual Florida Alligator Festival was held near the Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida on Sunday.

Attendees professed their love for Florida wildlife by wearing alligator-themed backpacks, t-shirts reading “swamp addiction” and other memorabilia.

The festival featured a reptile exhibit for kids and vendors from the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes, including Native American bead work and cooking like fry bread.

The organizers say they are seeking to bring back a love for the outdoors “Old Florida” culture – a cultural mix influenced by the region’s Native American tribes and the original “Gladesmen”— families of settlers who have lived in the swamps of South Florida for generations.

“Today we’re out here paying homage to traditional alligator wrestling. The guys that are out here, a lot of these folks are natives, grew up out here in the Big Cypress Swamp,” said Jack Shealy, the owner of the Trail Lakes Campground of the Skunk Ape Headquarters venue that hosted the event.

Paul Simmons, an alligator handler known locally as Swamp Man Paul, gave a demonstration of alligator wrestling techniques and talked about the history the tradition.

“There are basic safety rules, just like in baseball or football or any other thing. There’s always those basic steps, and if you skip them, you get hurt,” he said.