Day 919 New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival 2014
The Ninth Annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival will be held on Sunday October 5, from 12  to 5:00 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.
Vistors  are able to sample and taste the offerings from 25 area food establishments, 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.
Participating restaurants include: All Friends Catering & BBQ; Autumn Glen; The Black Whale; Brookdale; Chef Jeff’s Restaurant; Cotali Mar; Cove Surf & Turf; Freestone’s City Grill; The Galley Grille at White’s of Westport; Horta’s Restaurant; Matt’s Blackboard; Me & Ed’s; Mike’s Restaurant; Russell Morin’s Fine Catering; Olive Garden; Pasta House; Seaport Inn Grill; Sippican Health Care Center; SouthCoast Health; Tia Maria European Café; & the Black Whale – with many more making their plans to participate.
Outside the main tent will be smaller tents set up for food and drink sales that include local beer and wine, soft drinks and mixed drinks. Café Arpeggio will offer a variety of 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.
The MRL Trio will be performing all afternoon. The trio will dip into the pop, rock and Americana songbook to entertain the crowd. Percussionist Dan Schwartz will also be joining the performance. New this year, e DJ’s services from Ensemble Events will entertain between sets.
TICKETS are $15 in advance, $18 day of, $5 for children 6-12, free for 5 and younger.
