By Jake Russell
Photos courtesy of the Maryland Seafood Festival
Arguably the most sought-after end-of-summer event in Annapolis, the Maryland Seafood Festival returns for its 46th year and 30th straight at Sandy Point State Park.
As the name suggests, crabs, shrimp, oysters, clams, and other seafood will be plentiful, as will the entertainment, which includes live music, beer tastings, wine row, vendors, and a crab soup cook-off.
New attractions to the festival include an improved interactive kids zone where there will be the “Annapolis Crab Derby” and crab shell painting with help from the Crabs for Kids Foundation, an organization created to aide local underprivileged children and their families. Kids can enjoy a moon bounce, obstacle course, slide, exhibit, and awesome horseshoe crab and snakehead exhibits. There will also be a fishmobile on hand offering live exhibits and touch tanks.
Exciting events include The King BMX Stunt Team, extreme volleyball professional demos and exhibition matches, and live musical performances from popular local artists: The Chesapeake Steel Drum Band, Uncle Jack's Band , Swamp Candy, Pressing Strings, The Crawdaddies, Doug Segree, Jambulay, The Reagan Years, and The Kelly Bell Band.
The Capital's 22nd Annual Crab Soup Cook-off will offer over 30 different soups for guests to savor. Crab soup entries will come from local establishments such as Cantler's Riverside Inn, Charlestown Catering, Federal House Bar & Grill, the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Bella Napoli Italian Restaurant, Skipper's Pier Restaurant & Dock, and more. The cook-off is emceed by Elsa from Yelp and judged by the Feasty Boys (Jim Stump and Jon Mayer), Boris Savitiskiy, Ray Tompkins, and Alaiyo Kiasi-Barnes.
Vendors from artists and crafters up and down the coast will converge to offer unique items for you to purchase on-site. Vendors include Adams Art Production, Annapolis Shirt Company, Bailey Jewelers, Charm City Jewelry, Earth Lites Candle Co., Fishemup, Indian Hands, Lanky Leopard Loungers, Nectar of the Vine, Pampered Chef, Pink Ze a, Traci Lynn Fashion Jewelry, and many others.
Food vendors include Brio Tuscan Grille, Joe's Crab Shack, Jimmy's Famous Seafood, Phillip's Seafood, Red Hot & Blue, Stan & Joe's Saloon, and more.
The festival is expected to be a big hit, which is par for the course.
For more information, including full vendor listings and ticket prices, visit mdseafoodfestival.com.
