35Th Annual Hampton Beach Seafood Festival
Lobster rolls, clam chowders, crab cakes, fish tacos and so much more — you name it, and you’ll likely find it at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival. The end-of-summer Seacoast tradition is back for a milestone 35th year, returning to the shores of Ocean Boulevard on Hampton Beach for three days from Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8.
“We will see approximately 80,000 people come through over the course of the weekend, but that can be [as high as] 100,000 if the weather is beautiful,” said Colleen Westcott, Director of Events and Marketing for the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival Committee. “We have people that are coming year after year and bringing their friends, and so we’ve been seeing the numbers just keep increasing.”
Westcott said the festival was started in 1989 by a group of business owners on the beach who were looking to extend the summer season. It was originally in the town’s 50-acre state park before moving to Ocean Boulevard, and has continued to grow in scale and popularity ever since. Today, the entire stretch of road is closed to traffic during all three days, transforming into a pedestrian mall for festival-goers to roam freely and peruse the event’s many offerings, from the food and beer tents to the dozens of crafters and local live entertainment acts on two stages.
Attendees can expect many veteran favorites of the Seacoast community to be there, from The Old Salt Restaurant right in Hampton to Brown’s Lobster Pound in Seabrook and Rye Harbor Lobster Pound. Each will typically offer a smorgasbord of options ranging from menu staples to items created with the festival’s seafood theme in mind, like the 10-inch crab rangoon-inspired pizza from Deadproof Pizza Co. and the lobster empanadas from The Purple Urchin in Hampton.
For those who aren’t seafood lovers, there are plenty of alternative options to enjoy at the festival. Ronaldo’s Ristorante of North Hampton, for instance, will have meatball subs, fried ravioli and truffle Parmesan fries, while you’ll also be able to enjoy teriyaki steak skewers from Charlie’s Tap House and pulled pork sliders with homemade sweet coleslaw from The Big Bad Food Truck. Westcott added that the desserts and sweet treats are by no means an afterthought — those options will include apple crisp ice cream sundaes from Miss Bailey’s All American Kitchen, chocolate chip and Oreo fudge cannolis from Boston Cannoli Co. and doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies and whoopie pies from the Bearded Baking Co.
Taking place Friday evening on the Seashell Stage, a panel of judges will select a series of “Best Of” awardees to the food vendors. New this year, there will also be a people’s choice option for festival attendees.
“Each vendor will have a QR code and people will be able to vote on their phone for who their favorite food vendor is,” Westcott said. “We present those awards on Friday so that … as folks visit the festival, if they are seeing a booth with an array of the huge winner ribbons, then they know that that’s a festival winner who has been vetted by our judges.”
The crew from Wicked Bites, a television show on NESN focusing on unique food destinations across New England, will host live cooking demonstrations in the culinary tent on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday’s festivities will also include two cornhole tournaments on the beach from noon to 4 p.m., as well as a fireworks display at 8:30 p.m. Panorama, a Cars tribute band, will perform on the Seashell Stage leading up to the fireworks.
The festival picks right back up early Sunday morning with a 5K road race along Ocean Boulevard organized by Millennium Running. New this year will be a military and first responder parade at 1 p.m., followed by a festival favorite on the Seashell Stage at 2 p.m. — the lobster roll eating contest. Westcott said the festival committee partners with McGuirk’s Ocean View Restaurant & Lounge to supply trays upon trays of lobster rolls for the contestants.
“People eat as many lobster rolls as they can in 10 minutes,” she said. “We have some contestants who [have] returned for the last couple of years and have gotten to know the Seacoast community, so they bring in their cheering squads. It’s a lot of fun to watch them try to beat the person next to them and win the trophy for this year.”
Courtesy of First Student, free shuttle services are available from a variety of parking locations within the festival’s vicinity, including the municipal parking lot on High Street, the old Town Hall parking lot on Winnacunnet Road, the Centre School on Winnacunnet Road, the Marston School on Marston Way and — new this year — The Brook casino on New Zealand Road in Seabrook.
“We’re excited about teaming up with the Brook casino this year because it’s a really nice way for folks to expand their fun in one day,” Westcott said, “whether they come up to the Seafood Fest, enjoy it and then go back to the Brook for some fun and games, or the other way around.”
A portion of event proceeds will be donated to area nonprofits that are providing volunteers to run the gates. Westcott added that the Ted Williams Foundation will be holding a 50/50 raffle for the weekend that will benefit the New Hampshire State Police Benevolent Association.
35th Annual Hampton Beach Seafood Festival
When: Friday, Sept. 6, noon to 9 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Ocean Boulevard, Hampton Beach
Cost: $10 per person per day, or $30 per person for the entire weekend (free admission for children under 12 years old). Tickets are available online or on the day of the event. Foods are priced per item.
Visit: seafoodfestivalnh.com
Pets are not allowed into the festival. Free parking and shuttle services are available from several in-town satellite parking lots; go to seafoodfestivalnh.com/plan-your-visit for the full list.
Participating Food and Drink Vendors:
• Bearded Baking Co.
• The Big Bad Food Truck
• Boston Cannoli Co.
• The Boston Chowda Co.
• Brown’s Lobster Pound
• Charlie’s Tap House
• Clyde’s Cupcakes
• Deadproof Pizza Co.
• Extreme Concessions
• Flamingos Coffee Bar
• JR’s Seafood
• La Spiaggia
• Let the Dough Roll
• Lupe’s 55 Cantina
• Miss Bailey’s All American Kitchen
• The Old Salt Restaurant
• The Purple Urchin Restaurant
• Ray’s Seafood
• Rockingham Rolling Kitchen
• Ronaldo’s Ristorante
• Rudy’s Bubble Tea
• Rye Harbor Lobster Pound
• Seashore Seafood
• Sweet Bottom Boys
• Swell Oyster Co.
• Troop 177
• Wing-itz of Hampton
-By Matt Ingersoll
