10th Annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival

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chowder-festival-new-bedfordDowntown New Bedford, Inc. and BayCoast Bank will take the lead in sponsoring the Tenth Annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival on October 18th, from 12 noon to 5 pm on City Pier 3 in the Port of New Bedford. DNB’s Executive Director, Diane Arsenault said “We are extremely excited by BayCoast’s continued sponsorship as it enables us to maintain the high quality of the festival while keeping the ticket price low. ‘Chowderfest’ continues to be an affordable family event”. We are also very happy to announce, especially for our 10th Anniversary event, bigger tents and bigger cash prizes!

With your admission ticket you are able to sample and taste the offerings from 23 area food vendors. The list to date includes: Autumn Glen; Brandon Woods; The Black Whale Seafood & Raw Bar; Brazilian Grill; Brookdale; Cotali Mar; Cork Wine & Tapas; Cove Surf & Turf; E. J.’s Restaurant & Deli; The Edge Seafood Lounge; Fay’s Restaurant & Catering; Freestone’s City Grill; Galley Grille at White’s of Westport; Mary’s Restaurant; Me & Ed’s Restaurant; Olive Garden; Pa Raffas Italian Restaurant; The Pasta House; Seaport Inn Grill and Marina; Sippican Healthcare; Slack’s Oyster House & Grill; Tia Maria European Café; Quahog Republic Whalers Tavern; Dorothy Cox on the Waterfront.

The Chowder Festival has two “friendly competitions” culminating in awards at the end of the event. The People’s Choice Awards are decided by the votes of the attendees for “Best Of” in all the food categories and for Best Booth Presentation. We are increasing the size and visibility of the voting tent to make it easier for all our patrons to cast their ballots.

The Judge’s Choice Awards will be decided by a blind taste test conducted by a panel of 3 area “foodies”. NEW this year, for our 10th Anniversary event, Sea Watch International will sponsor the prizes. Because of their support, we are able to increase cash prizes for the First place winners in the Judge’s Blind Taste Test competition. The winner in the Clam Chowder category will receive a $1000 cash prize and the winners in the Seafood Chowder and Stuffed Quahog categories will each receive $500. The First place winners in the categories of Kale Soup and Specialty Soups will each receive $250. This sponsorship by Sea Watch International is a perfect fit for the Chowder Festival. Sea Watch processes clam and specialty seafood products for the Food Service and Retail Industry as well as servicing many co-pack customers. They currently operate three state of the art plants in Maryland, Delaware and Massachusetts where they pack canned and frozen products.

Outside the main tent will be smaller tents set up for food and drink vending that includes soft drinks, beers from L. Knife, Crush Fine Wines and Cocktail Guru mixed drinks. Café Arpeggio will also offer, coffee, cookies and homemade ice cream. Adding to the festive atmosphere throughout the afternoon are the annual YMCA Lobster Races. Young children will be entertained with craft activities organized by volunteers from the Global Charter School, fire truck rides on the antique engine courtesy of the New Bedford Fire Museum, and free photo booth pictures from Ensemble Events

Live music by the BaHa Brothers will add to the fun. They will be performing all afternoon with plenty of room to sit and relax or get up and dance! MAS Sound will also be there to start us off and fill in during the band breaks.

The Chowder Festival Planning Committee and Downtown New Bedford, Inc. would also like to acknowledge and recognize our many sponsors all listed in the program book. A special thank you to these companies who have participated in all 10 Festivals: Aarsheim Fishing Co, BayCoast Bank, Eastern Fisheries, Freestone’s City Grill, Reynold DeWalt, Poyant Signs, The Standard Times and Sylvia Group Insurance.

TICKETS are $15 in advance, $18 day of, $5 for children 6-12, free for 5 and younger. Tickets will be available at the DNB office, on-line through our web-site www.downtownnb.org and at many locations including all the Cardoza and Douglas Wine and Spirits locations. For more information call 508-990-2777 or e-mail dnb@downtownnb.org.

About Michael Silvia

Served 20 years in the United States Air Force. Owner of New Bedford Guide.

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