Record turnout likely for Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival; ferry from Victoria at capacity

PORT ANGELES — The MV Coho’s passenger decks were packed with Canadian visitors, and the crab lines were long at the three-day Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival in what organizers said may be a record year.

“We planned for an expansion, and we beat the expectation,” said Scott Nagel, executive director of the festival.

Nagel hesitated to make an estimate for attendance, saying it would take a few days to review receipts before he could give a number.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Several Coho runs were sold out — the 341-foot ferry has a 1,000-passenger capacity — and “it was completely filled with people,” Nagel said.

“We could have used another Coho,” he said.

The response from north of the border was largely credited to heavy marketing in the Victoria area by Black Ball Ferry Line, the Coho’s owner, Nagel said.

Also helping was the three-day Thanksgiving Day weekend in Canada.

The Crab Fest crowd overflowed the parking lot where the festival is held, and into Lincoln Street and Railroad Avenue at City Pier and the Red Lion Hotel parking lot — and still needed more room.

Nagel said a larger venue is going to be needed if the festival is to continue to expand.

The 12-year-old event has been growing steadily each year, and has really come into its own in the past six years, he said.

He said vendors were reporting good receipts, too.

A new event, the chowder cookoff, was a major success for popularity and for quality of food, and Nagel added that the cook-off earned a profit in its first year.

“It has become an international festival,” Nagel said.

By far the most common international visitors were from Canada via the MV Coho.

“It was completely filled with people,” Nagel said.

However, he said many of guests came from farther distances.

Nagel said he met guests from Japan, Scotland and other overseas locations who made Port Angeles a stop on their travel itineraries.

________

Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Hurricane Ridge day lodge funding held up in Congress

The fate of $80 million in funding to rebuild… Continue reading

Judy Davidson, left, and Kathy Thomas, both of Port Townsend, look over the skin care products offered by Shandi Motsi of Port Townsend, one of the 20 vendors at the second annual Procrastinators Craft Fair at the Palindrome/Eaglemount Cidery on Friday. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Procrastinators Market

Judy Davidson, left, and Kathy Thomas, both of Port Townsend, look over… Continue reading

Services could be impacted by closure

Essential workers won’t get paid in shutdown

A now-deceased male cougar was confirmed by Panthera and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff to have been infected with Avian influenza on the Olympic Peninsula. (Powell Jones/Panthera)
Two cougars infected with bird flu die

Risk of human infection still low, CDC says

D
Readers contribute $58K to Home Fund to date

Donations can be made for community grants this spring

Jefferson Elementary School in Port Angeles designated Thursday dress up like a candy cane day. Back row, from left to right, they are: Wyatt Farman, Ari Ownby, Tayo Murdach, Chloe Brabant, Peyton Underwood, Lola Dixon, River Stella (in wheelchair), Fenja Garling, Tegan Brabant, Odessa Glaude, Eastyn Schmeddinger-Schneder. Front row: Ellie Schneddinger-Schneder, Cypress Crear, Bryn Christiansen and Evelyn Shrout. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Dress like a candy cane

Jefferson Elementary School in Port Angeles designated Thursday dress up like a… Continue reading

EYE ON THE PENINSULA: Jefferson commissioners to meet on Monday

Meetings across the North Olympic Peninsula

A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was airlifted to a Seattle hospital after the car in which they were riding collided with the back of a school bus on Center Road on Friday morning. (East Jefferson Fire Rescue)
One dies in two-vehicle collision involving school bus

A 40-year-old Quilcene man died and a 7-year-old boy was… Continue reading

Iris McNerney of from Port Townsend is like a pied piper at the Port Hudson Marina. When she shows up with a bag of wild bird seed, pigeons land and coo at her feet. McNerney has been feeding the pigeons for about a year and they know her car when she parks. Gulls have a habit of showing up too whenever a free meal is available. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Feeding the birds

Iris McNerney of from Port Townsend is like a pied piper at… Continue reading

Property purchase intended for housing

Port Angeles envisions 18 to 40 residents

Housing, climate top Port Townsend’s state agenda

City also prioritizes transportation, support at Fort Worden

Dennis Bauer gets emotional while testifying at his triple murder trial in January 2022. His conviction was overturned by the state Court of Appeals and remanded back to Clallam County. (Paul Gottlieb/Peninsula Daily News)
Appeals court overturns murder conviction

Three-judge panel rules Bauer did not receive fair trial

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Daily News relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in