PORT ANGELES — This weekend’s Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival is among the top events in the nation, according to Coastal Living magazine and the American Bus Association.
Coastal Living magazine named the festival one of the top “10 Fabulous Fall Festivals on the Coast,” while the American Bus Association selected it as one of the “Top 100 Events in North America.”
Before the weekend really gets going, a community crab feed sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News will kick off events Friday.
For $25 per plate, attendees will get a fresh, whole Dungeness crab, sweet corn and organic coleslaw.
The meal will be from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Windermere Crab Central Pavilion in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot, 221 N. Lincoln St.
A coupon knocking $5 off the price is available on Page A4 of today’s PDN.
The festival will begin in earnest Saturday for a two-day run at City Pier and The Gateway in Port Angeles. Admission is free.
In addition to 12,000 pounds of fresh, local Dungeness crab and the seasonal fare of 15 local restaurants, the event will feature more than 60 vendors on City Pier from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
On a chef demonstration stage at The Gateway, chefs will show how to prepare the bounty of the local area in presentations from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Also planned is a Grab-A-Crab Tank Derby, a combined air-sea rescue demonstration by the Coast Guard at 2 p.m. Saturday, a raptor demonstration at 1 p.m. Sunday on Hollywood Beach, hands-on educational activities and exhibits at the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center on City Pier.
The Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival is produced by the nonprofit Olympic Peninsula Celebrations and the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, visit www.crabfestival.org, e-mail info@crabfestival.org, or phone 360-452-6300.