2015 Working Waterfront Festival Survival Guide

The nation’s number one commercial fishing port hosts the annual Working Waterfront Festival, a free, family friendly celebration of commercial fishing culture. The 2015 event takes place on the working piers of New Bedford’s historic waterfront on Saturday, September 26th and Sunday, September 27th. More than simply a celebration, the Working Waterfront Festival is a unique opportunity for the public to get a firsthand look at the culture of fishing and for the commercial fishing community to tell its’ own story. The event presents all that goes into bringing seafood from the ocean to the table in a way that is hands-on, educational, and fun. We encourage you to listen and watch but also to taste, touch, and converse.

THE BASICS:

• Dates: September 26-27
• Location: New Bedford’s Historic Waterfront (Pier 3, State Pier, Steamship Pier)
• Hours: Saturday 11-6, Sunday 11-5 (whaleboat races Saturday 8-12)
• 2015 is the 12th year of the event
• Festival is held rain or shine with most events under tents
• Festival is presented free of charge
• Parking is free of charge at Elm St Garage and all downtown meters
• Full details available at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org

2015 THEME
This year, we explore the objects of the industry: its’ food, clothing, tools, gear, art, crafts, and more with our theme: Every Object Tells a Story. We invite you to watch demonstrations of maritime crafts such as boat building, net mending, model making, marlinspike artistry, and knot tying. View exhibits of industry antiques (historic tools, gear and gadgets) and unusual catches (the unexpected things that come up in the net). Large industry objects such as engines and net drums will be displayed on Steamship Pier. Foodways Demonstrations will include ethnic approaches to seafood as well as demonstration of filleting and shucking.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Fishing Gear Fashion Show: Fishermen modeling gear from different fisheries and different eras provide an entertaining look at how workplace clothing has evolved over time.
• Nautical Tattoo Contest: Contestants will be judged on the artistry of their tattoo, their stage presence, and the story they tell.
• Schooner Adventure: Built in built in 1926, in Essex, Massachusetts, Schooner Adventure fished cod, haddock and halibut from Nantucket to Newfoundland, along the Grand
• Banks of the North Atlantic: Fully restored over a 25 year period, she is completing her first sailing season since the restoration was completed. She will be offering a paid charter sail on Saturday evening.
• Flume Tank: A 750 gallon model flume tank simulating ocean currents allows visitors to see how various types of fishing gear operates underwater.
• Man Overboard Demo: Watch a dockside demonstration of how fishermen on deck must act quickly to rescue a crew member who has fallen overboard.
• Life Raft Deployment: Commercial fishing one of the nation’s most dangerous jobs. Learn about the proper way to deploy a life raft in this participatory demonstration.
• Seafood Throwdown: Two chefs compete to create a winning dish using a surprise seafood ingredient. The event highlights underutilized seafood and local produce.

FESTIVAL DINING
The Sea Food Hut will be serving fish & chips, fried New Bedford sea scallops, and fried clams. The Newburyport Crab Company offers crab cakes, lobster rolls, lobster and crab pod sandwiches, lobster quesadilla, lobster taco, and salmon taco. R. Shucks Raw Bar will have little necks and oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, clam chowder, and grilled seafood. Destination Soups will be serving clam chowder, gazpacho, chicken vegetable soup, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tuna sandwiches. The Ox Cart will be serving lobster rolls, hot dogs, quahog chowder, and ice cream. Flour Girls Bakery will be serving apple cider donut holes, cookies, bars, ice cream cookie sandwiches, ice cream floats, and coffee. Del’s Lemonade will be serving frozen lemonade. Poppin’ Mad Kettle Korn will be serving kettle korn and unsweetened popcorn.

COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS
The Foodways Area on Pier 3 features hourly cooking demonstrations followed by tastings. Visitors are invited to learn the basics of preparing fresh seafood at home as well as ethnic approaches to seafood cooking and galley fare. This year, we feature family recipes. Don’t miss the Seafood Throwdown on Sunday September 27th! Two chefs compete to create a winning seafood dish using a surprise local seafood ingredient which is revealed to them at the event and fresh, local produce. Chefs can bring three of their favorite ingredients and, once the secret seafood is revealed, they get $25 and 15 minutes to shop the Festival Farmers’ Market for the remaining ingredients. After their shopping spree, they have one hour to cook and present their entry for the judge’s consideration. The Throwdown concludes with an opportunity for the audience to sample the dishes. The Seafood Throwdown is a collaboration between the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Working Waterfront Festival.

FARMERS’ MARKET
Sponsored by edible Southshore & SouthCoast, attendees can find the Farmers’ Market in its’ new location on Pier 3. The market features produce and specialty items from a number of local farms and artisan kitchens as well as informational booths. In addition fresh, local lobsters will be available for sale right off the boat in Tonnessen Park.

PERFORMERS
The Festival brings together a unique array of music, storytelling, and poetry. Performances include traditional sea chanteys and music reflecting the fishing industry’s ethnic diversity as well as songs, stories and poetry about commercial fishing and the sea. Often, the performers work in the industry or are from a fishing family. This year we showcase many festival favorites as well as a few new faces. The 2015 line up includes: Ambrose Wise (music from Newfoundland), Ana Vinagre (Portuguese fado), Bob Zentz (traditional maritime music from the Chesapeake), Castlebay (traditional and original maritime music from Maine), Charlotte Enoksen (fisherpoetry), Dave Densmore (fisherpoetry), Debra Cowan (maritime music), Jackson Gillman ( maritime stories), Joanne Doherty (maritime music), John Roberts (traditional maritime music), Jon Campbell (original maritime songs), Larry Kaplan (traditional and original maritime music), New Bedford Sea Chantey Chorus (traditional sea chanteys) , NOIR (music from Norway and Ireland), and Sharks Come Cruisin’ (punk rock sea chanteys).

AUTHORS
A number of authors will read from and sign their books on commercial fishing, fishermen, seafood, and boats. Books will be available for purchase at our Festival Store located on Pier 3. Participating authors include: Heather Atwood (In Cod We Trust), Chester Brigham (Phoenix of the Seas), William H. Ewen (Steamboats to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket), Ann Pieroway (Tastes and Tales of Coastal New England), Rachel Rowley-Spaulding (In Search of the Ellen Marie), and WCAI Radio (The Long Haul).

KID’S ACTIVITIES
The Kid’s Activity Tent located on Steamship Pier offers a boatload of make-and-take art activities. This area is staffed courtesy of the Art Education Program of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

CONTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS OF INDUSTRY SKILLS
Contests offer a unique opportunity to watch those who work in the commercial fishing industry show off the skills of their trade. All contests will take place on the Contest Stage on Steamship Pier. This year’s contests include: Scallop Shucking, Net Mending, Link Squeezing, Splicing, and Survival Suit Races. This stage will also be the site for two new events, a Fishing Gear Fashion Show and a Nautical Tattoo Contest. In addition, visitors can watch whaleboat races and a tugboat muster from the On Water Activities Viewing Area at the head of Steamship Pier. Learn first hand about historic and contemporary skills of the industry by visiting the industry skills demonstration booths (Steamship Pier) including: net making, knot tying, rigging, scallop dredge making, inshore fishing, wire splicing, and more. Model boat makers will display a variety of workboats in miniature (Coast Guard Park).

VESSEL AND HARBOR TOURS
A number of vessels will be available for dockside vessel tours giving visitors a unique opportunity to learn about different types of working vessels, talk with crew, see how the gear operates and get a sense of shipboard life. Whaling City Expeditions will offer a 50-minute harbor tour. The tour features a detailed narrative on the working waterfront and the various fishing vessels utilizing the port including draggers, scallop, tuna and clam boats. Tours leave daily from the dock north of the Wharfinger Building on Pier 3 every hour on the hour from noon until 5:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the gangway to the vessel.

WHALEBOAT RACES AND RIDES
In its’ heyday, the New Bedford waterfront was a hub of activity with whalers tied up at the piers and tradesmen working their craft in related fishing and boating activities such as one sees at the festival today. Crews from the boats sometimes passed their shore time in friendly competition by racing their ship’s whaleboats in the harbor. On Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon, the Buzzards Bay Rowing Club is honoring that old time tradition by hosting a one-mile whaleboat race. Teams will compete in several categories. The Buzzards Bay Rowing Club will be offering free instructional rows on both Saturday and Sunday. If you are at least 18 years of age and would like to try your hand at rowing, whaleboats will depart from Coast Guard Park from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday.

TUG BOAT MUSTER
Tugboats, also called Tugs or Towboats, are small but sturdy vessels that are primarily used to move large ships and barges. Tugboats are powerful enough to tow large ocean liners and freighters. Tugs are very versatile; they can tow from the front or the side, or push from the back. These are the boats that get things done, the boats that keep the world’s commerce moving. Today’s massive tankers and freighters would be helpless in port without tugboats to maneuver them. Tugboats and their crews move our products, remove out trash, fight harbor fires, pilot other vessels into and out of port and perform salvage and rescue operations. Watch tugs at work showing their mighty power from the end of Steamship Pier. On Saturday at 3:00 p.m. watch mini tugs in action followed by an old fashioned muster featuring full-sized area tugs at 3:30.

BLESSING OF THE FLEET
On Sunday, September 27th, the 46th annual Blessing of the Fleet will take place beginning at 1:00 p.m. A time-honored tradition, the Blessing gives the fishing community an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the successes of the past year and to ask for the Lord’s good blessing to continue in the coming year to keep each vessel and its’ crew safe during each voyage.

EXHIBITS
A number of industry related non-profit organizations and businesses have exhibits on Pier 3 and Steamship Pier. The Maritime Artisans Marketplace features unique handcrafted work by regional artists. For forty years, the Wharfinger building on Pier 3 was the site of the city’s seafood auction.

Today the building serves as the Waterfront Visitor Center. In addition to welcoming visitors, the building houses a mini-museum commemorating the seafood auction and the City’s role in the history of the commercial fishing industry. The exhibit was created through a joint effort of the City of New Bedford, the National Park Service, and the fishing industry. The U.S. Coast Guard will have a booth at Coast Guard Park.

SPONSORS
The Working Waterfront Festival is supported by a diverse coalition of individuals, businesses and educational and cultural organizations. Producing Partners of the 2015 Festival are National Endowment for the Arts and Whaling City Seafood Display Auction. Major support is also provided by the City of New Bedford, New Bedford Harbor Development Commission, SouthCoast Media Group, United States Coast Guard, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, National Council for the Traditional Arts, and Massachusetts Cultural Council. The Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.

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