New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Downtown New Bedford, Inc. is pleased to announce that once again BayCoast Bank will take the lead in sponsoring the Tenth Annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival on September 25th, 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 their 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”.
With your admission ticket you are able to sample and taste the offerings from approximately 25 area food vendors until 3:00, with live music and awards until 5:00 pm. We are recruiting restaurants and food vendors and the participant list will be available soon. Applications to participate are available by calling the DNB office or can be downloaded from our website. There is a great opportunity for companies who want great exposure to the 2,500 people who attend this event annually.
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.
The Judge’s Choice Awards will be decided by a blind taste test conducted by a panel of 3 area “foodies”. Sea Watch International sponsors the 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 Tattoo Cowboy will add to the fun. They will be performing all afternoon with plenty of room to sit and relax or get up and dance.
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 beginning in September. For more information call 508-990- 2777 or e-mail dnb@downtownnb.org.
