The bad news: Summer is almost over.
The good news: Fall-ish events like The Downbeach Seafood Festival are coming … very soon!
No one appreciates summer like I do, but the fall at the shore does have its upsides: fewer people at the beach, less traffic, easier to get reservations at your favorite restaurants and festivals galore. Yes, locals summer is right around the corner.
And while summer may not officially be over by the time The Downbeach Seafood Festival hits Ski Beach in Ventnor on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13 and 14, the fall bells are ringing hard.
The greatest seafood festival in South Jersey returns — as you have now come to expect from anything Good Time Tricycle Founder and Events Producer Jon Henderson is involved with — better than ever.
Not bigger, mind you, but better.
And that’s intentional.
“We started off in 2012 in Atlantic City and would attract about 30,000 people,” Henderson said of the event when it was held at Bader Field. “In 2019, we moved it over to Ventnor to Ski Beach, which turned out to be a really intimate setting for it, and it ended up being its forever home. It’s a celebration of the treasures of the ocean. Everybody who’s there is either a restaurant or a fishery or a food truck right here in New Jersey and South Jersey. It’s important to us that as the season kind of wraps up, we give local culinary folks an opportunity to put an extra few clams in the coffer.”
So, size doesn’t matter?
In this case, not really.
“Is it as gigantic as it once was? No, but it gives this great, intimate, green space feel right there on the water,” Henderson said. “There’s trees, there’s manicured green grass under your feet. There’s no charge for parking. So, there are a lot, a lot of little wins.”
According to its press release, the Downbeach Seafood Festival is more than a tasting event, it’s an invitation to explore Atlantic County through the lens of its food, people and traditions. Visitors will find the laid-back rhythm of beach life perfectly balanced with vibrant culinary offerings, Jersey-made craft beer, chef-led cooking demos and the sounds of live music filling the air. Locally crafted art, interactive exhibits, family-friendly activities and sand sculpting add even more texture to this dynamic weekend.
Grub it up
Like any seafood festival worth its Old Bay seasoning salt, the main attraction is the food, and this year’s stellar lineup of restaurants and food trucks is perhaps the most impressive yet.
Think everything from lobster empanadas to ceviche, crab and salmon cakes, lobster rolls, seafood tacos … if it can be made with seafood it’s probably on the menu. And, yes, there are plenty of options for you landlubbers out there, from cheesesteaks to chicken parm.
Standouts include Back Bay Ale House from Atlantic City, Bacon on a Stick — which will also offer scallops this year, too — Chef Michael Brennan’s Cardinal from Atlantic City, Cousins Maine Lobster, Dak Daddy’s Oyster Shack — my favorite oysters in the state — Decadence Food Truck, Del Toro Tapas, House of Cupcakes, Ike’s Famous Crabcakes, Chef Bobby Hettmansperger’s always fantastic Il Porcellino from Egg Harbor Township, Jay’s Crab Shack, Las Olas, P.J. Buckets, The Queen Bean Bistro, Star of the Sea Seafood, Vagabond and one of my favorites, TacoCat, where I highly recommend the shrimp or mahi tacos (or both!).
There are a bunch of new faces offering seafood this year, including 279 Social Kitchen & Craft Bar (formerly Romanelli’s) from Galloway, the new Ventnor restaurant Drift, Italian seafood from L’Acquario and Scallops Shack Farms.
As part of National Hunger Action Month, the festival continues its partnership with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey with the always-popular “Chowder Cook-Off,” where guests can make a $10 donation and sample a wide variety of chowders from area restaurants and cast their votes for the best bowl. All proceeds from the Cook-Off go directly toward providing meals for families in need, with the 2025 goal set to surpass $5,000, enough to provide roughly 15,000 meals across the state.
“This year, we’ve got 21 restaurants participating,” Henderson said. “So, if you think about it: It’s 21 restaurants, and you’re trying 2 ounces of chowder. That’s a lot of chowder. And all the money goes to the Food Bank. In my opinion, the Food Bank is easily the most valuable charity partner in our market. They feed people.”
Last year also marked the debut of “The Oyster Tour of The Shore,” and it returns in a big way as it allows guests to sample oysters harvested from waters up and down the coast and meet the farmers who cultivated them to learn the art of oyster shucking from professionals at the Demo Stage presented by Cape Harbor Shellfish. Featured oyster farms are Cape May Salts, Sloop Point Oyster Co., McGee’s Shellfish, Salty Soul Oyster Co., Sapphire Shoals Oysters and Tucker Island Oysters.
“It’s an immersive addition to the event’s mission of honoring the bounty of the sea and the hardworking individuals behind it,” Henderson said. “We bring in six oyster farms, and for $25, you get 12, which is well below market value, and you’re going to meet and have a conversation with each of these oyster farmers and see the difference between Salty Souls and Cape May Salts and others. The oyster farmers are shucking and talking about their whole culture, creating a very cool experience. The whole oyster culture from coast to coast is different, the mouth feel is different, the flavors are different. Try the different oysters and you can really get a taste for the different regions and oysters. Water matters.”
More than just food
There are more festivals than not that line up food trucks and vendors and call it a “festival,” but The Downbeach Seafood Festival truly lives up to its name.
That’s why, other than the aforementioned chowder cook-off and oyster sampling, there’s food and booze tastings, live music, cooking and cocktail demonstrations, a crab cake eating competition and so much more.
“I don’t subscribe to the ‘If you build it, they will come’ scenario,” Henderson said. “I think people need distractions. People need entertainment. These things need layers, and to just do something kind of one dimensionally doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work. There’s just so much out there that is fighting for your attention. People want more for their dollar. They want more for the hour, two, three, four hours they’re going to spend with you. So, if you layer all that, you stand a better chance of success. You stand a chance of people talking about you. You stand a chance of people having a better overall experience.”
This year, festivalgoers can hula hoop, check out the interactive butterfly garden, get your face painted, learn how to cook seafood properly and creatively, enjoy beer and wine tastings and witness — or participate in — the Crab Cake Eating Competition presented by Jay’s Crab Shack.
“This is something we’ve done since we started the festival,” Henderson said. “We take six people, and they have to eat five crab cakes in 4 minutes. Winner gets $100. Everybody else gets lunch. It’s aggressive. I couldn’t do it.”
Of course, beer is a major part of any Good Time Tricycle production. The creators of the Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival will offer “Great Brews of New Jersey” at the seafood fest, The tasting tent becomes a mini beer fest where 12 of New Jersey’s favorite breweries offer 10 tastings for $10.
Also — and these are personal recommendations — hunt down Brian Ireland from Alibi Gin and devour some of his oyster shooters, and have your iPhone camera ready for a selfie with Matt Deibert’s sand creations.
Entertainment plays a major part of the festival, too, including the South Pacific Island Dancers on both days. Saturday’s music lineup includes Yanni the Band, Funk Daddy and DJ Rashaun, while Sunday’s offerings are Party Wave, The Wayouts and DJ Patrice McBride.
What’s next?
When you look at the evolution of the Downbeach Seafood Festival over the last dozen years or so, it’s hard not to be impressed.
It transformed from a festival that relied too much on fried frozen seafood and “carny” vendors, offering very little locally farmed seafood, to its present form as a local seafood mecca featuring amazing South Jersey chefs. So, what does Henderson & Co. have in store for us seafood lovers in the years to come?
“I would like to see us really showcase the fisheries of South Jersey,” Henderson said. “We started that with the ‘Oyster Tour,’ and I want to continue that. It would be a real showcase with a fresh seafood market so you can grab stuff to take home. It would be bushels of blue claws. It would be Chef Michael Brennan from Cardinal and Chef Bobby Hettmansperger from Il Porcellino and other great chefs using the seafood from the vendor right next to them and preparing that fish and seafood right in front of you. It would highlight our local seafood treasures even more than we already do. How cool would that be?”
Pretty cool … we can’t wait!
The Downbeach Seafood Festival will take place 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14. It is located on Ski Beach, Dorset and Burk avenues, Ventnor. Street parking is available, and shuttle buses are also provided. For tickets, which start at $10, and more information, go to DownbeachSeafoodFest.com
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
