2014 New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival

Taste offerings from 25 area restaurant! Who will have the best?

Downtown New Bedford, Inc. is pleased to announce the date for the Ninth Annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival. It will be held on Sunday October 5th, from 12 noon to 5 pm at Pier 3 on New Bedford’s working waterfront. Restaurants, caterers and organizations with great dining facilities are lining up to compete in this friendly competition, The day culminates in awards decided by the votes of the attendees for “Best Of” in all the categories and the “Judge’s Choice” Award will be decided by a blind taste test. This year’s judging panel includes the 2012 “Chopped” Champion, Chef Joe Rego: Standard Times Food Critique and Food Blogger, Auditi Guha, and WFHN Radio Personality, Michael Rock.

With your ticket you are able to sample and taste the offerings from 25 area restaurants, many offering one or more in the categories of Clam Chowder, Seafood Chowder, Kale and Specialty Soups and Stuffed Quahogs, all under an enormous tent nestled among the fishing boats on Pier 3 in New Bedford.

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As of September 22nd we have signed up: Autumn Glen, Brookdale, The Hollywood Scoop, The Tipsy Toboggan, Cove Surf & Turf, Freestone’s City Grill, The Galley Grille at White’s of Westport, Horta’s Restaurant, Me & Ed’s, Russell Morin’s Fine Catering, Olive Garden, Pasta House, Seaport Inn Grill, SouthCoast Health, Cotali Mar, The Black Whale Restaurant, Chef Jeff’s, Mike’s Restaurant, Sippican Healthcare Center, Whaling City Diner, All Friends Catering & BBQ, Matt’s Blackboard and Tia Maria European Café – with many more making their plans to participate.

‘Chowderfest’ continues to be an affordable family event”. Says DNB’s Executive Director, Diane Arsenault thanks to the support of our many sponsors. “We are extremely excited by that BayCoast Bank has again taken the lead in this sponsorship as it enables us to maintain the high quality of the festival while keeping the ticket price low”.

Outside the main tent will be smaller tents set up for food and drink vending that includes local beer and wines, soft drinks and mixed drinks. Café Arpeggio will also be offering a variety foods including homemade ice cream and desserts. Adding to the festive atmosphere throughout the afternoon are the annual YMCA Lobster Races, antique fire truck rides, craft activities organized by volunteers from the New Bedford Ocean Explorium, Buttonwood Park Zoo and Global Charter School.

Live music also adds to the atmosphere. The MRL Trio will be performing all afternoon with plenty of room for you to sit and listen or get up and dance! MRL is Butch McCarthy, Chris Richards and Dori Rubbicco Legge, local favorites. The trio will dip into the pop, rock and Americana songbook to entertain the crowd. Percussionist Dan Schwartz will also be joining the performance. We also have DJ’s services from Ensemble Events to entertain us between the band’s sets.

Restaurant applications to participate are available by calling the DNB office or can be downloaded from our website. There are also many sponsorship opportunities for companies who want great exposure to the 2,000 people who attend this event annually.

TICKETS are $15 in advance, $18 day of, $5 for children 6-12, free for 5 and younger. Tickets can be purchased online here: http://www.downtownnb.org/chowderfest.html


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