BELMAR — Despite a Saturday cancellation forced by bad weather, the 35th Annual New Jersey Seafood Festival enjoyed a successful return to its traditional location at Silver Lake Park on Friday and Sunday, with crafts, live music and plenty of food from some of the shore’s favorite seafood restaurants.
Borough Administrator Kevin Kane said that many of the vendors had expressed gratitude for the Saturday cancellation and the related transparency. To compensate, the festival resumed an hour earlier than planned on Sunday, when huge crowds attended under sunny skies.
“You hate to do it, but it was the right thing to do,” Mr. Kane said, noting the line of thunderstorms “coming right up the beach” on Saturday morning. “Rain is one thing; thunder and lightning becomes a public safety issue.”
Veteran participants like Vincent Petruzziello, owner of Mr. Shrimp, were unfazed by the weather disruption. In his 23 years at the event, Mr. Petruzziello said, “We’ve had extreme heat days, we’ve had extreme cold days, we’ve had monsoons, we’ve had a little drizzle and then we’ve had absolutely perfect [conditions]. Good weather, bad weather, we just go with it and sell lobster.”
Hungry participants from around the state gathered at the lakeside park across from Taylor Pavilion on the boardwalk to kickstart the festival under overcast skies Friday afternoon. Many arrived more than an hour early to scope out the best spots before the crowds arrived.
“It looks great so far, it only just started and it seems like we’ve got a lot of people here,” Mayor Gerald Buccafusco said, observing the first hours of the festival.
The highly anticipated festival has become a yearly staple for many of the borough’s local favorites for lobster rolls, oysters and shrimp, including Klein’s Fish Market, Mr. Shrimp, Point Lobster Company, Simply Southern and Ragin’ Cajun, as well as Coney Waffle offering sweet treats like ice cream floats and cannoli waffles.
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