The following was released by the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival
Welcome aboard as New Bedford, America’s largest commercial fishing port, hosts the 8th Working Waterfront Festival. The FREE event takes place September 24th and 25th on the working piers and waterfront parks of the historic Port of New Bedford.
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
More than simply a celebration, the Working Waterfront Festival is a unique opportunity for the public to get a firsthand look at the culture of fishing and for the commercial fishing community to tell its own story. The event presents all that goes into bringing seafood from the ocean to the table in a way that is hands-on, educational and fun. We encourage you to listen and watch, but also to taste, touch and converse.
2011 THEME
The 2011 Festival theme Then & Now: Tradition and Innovation in New England’s Working Ports will explore cultural traditions in commercial fishing communities, pay tribute to industry innovators and consider how the industry has changed over time.
NEW THIS YEAR
• Scallop Shucking Contest moves to Sunday! This year’s scallop shucking contest (a Festival highlight) will take place on Sunday at noon with a link squeezing competition at 11:30. Saturday at noon watch the net mending and splicing contests.
• New Festival Hours! All piers will remain open until 6pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday.
• Expanded food offerings: Enjoy grilled seafood, a raw bar and home made soups and donuts in addition to the traditional fried seafood and lobster rolls.
PERFORMERS
The Festival brings together a unique array of music and poetry. Performances include traditional sea chanteys; music reflecting the industry’s ethnic diversity; and poetry and music about commercial fishing and the sea often performed by musicians who work in the industry. In keeping with this year’s theme, many of the 2011 acts pay tribute to past and present traditions of regional fisheries. The Northern Neck Chantey Singers keep alive a unique tradition of African American work songs from Virginia’s menhaden fishery. Calico Jack, the dynamic folk duo of Janie Meneely and Paul DiBlasi, celebrates the people, places and history of the Chesapeake Bay and the oyster industry. Castlebay features Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee who weave together Maine's ageless nautical and British Isles legacies transporting their audience through time and across the Atlantic. Maine-based folksinger Dave Rowe is known as much for his hairy-chested, fiddle-driven maritime and Celtic classics and rollicking Appalachian songs as he is for his captivating originals and his Downeast, common-sense wit. He’ll be joined by bassist/vocalist Kevin O’Reilly and fiddler/vocalist Zach Ovington. Crabgrass features Daisy Nell, a native of Essex, MA, mainstay of the shipbuilding industry for over 300 years, who brings to life New England’s maritime history through traditional songs of the sea. She is joined by Stan Collinson, Pat Conlon and Jack Schwartz. With a nod to the Norwegian scallop industry, NØÍR is a European roots music band which fuses the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle (Hardingfele) and the Northumbrian smallpipes from England. Local legend Ana Vinagre performs Portuguese fado, a tradition which grew up in the port city of Lisbon and speaks to the Portuguese involvement in commercial fishing in the old country and the new world. Several performers who write from personal experience working in the industry are also on tap for the weekend including festival regular Jon Campbell who leads Something Fishy, a song/poetry swap of material created and performed by fishermen. Also included in this group are several fisherpoets. Geno Leech began writing poetry while drag fishing on the COLUMBIAN STAR off the Oregon/Washington coast. Today, Geno works aboard a hopper dredge in the Gulf of Mexico. Colin Williams and Charlotte Enoksen will also present original poetry about the industry. Festival favorites, Souls of the Sea, a Gloucester-based folk-rock trio performs on Saturday. The New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus closes out the day on Sunday.
FESTIVAL FOOD
Oxford Creamery will be offering an expanded menu including fish and chips, fried scallops, lobster rolls, clam cakes, and quahog chowder as well as grilled shrimp, scallops, swordfish, linguica and vegetables. New this year The Newburyport Crab Company offers crab cakes, Ahi Tuna Poke, and lobster mac n’ cheese; R. Shucks Raw Bar will have oysters and clams on the half shell; Destination Soups with hot and cold soup and grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches; and Great Cape Baking Company with home-made donuts and hot and cold apple cider. Other food vendors include: Café Arpeggio serving its’ own Home Made Ice Cream, Celtic Coffee House with coffee and pastries; and Del’s Lemonade,
COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS
The Foodways Area (Pier 3) features cooking demonstrations by galley cooks, ethnic cooks and celebrity chefs. Visitors are invited to learn the basics of preparing fresh seafood at home as well as ethnic approaches to seafood cooking and galley fare. Recipe cards will be available and the raw ingredients for most recipes will be available for sale at the Festival Farmers’ Market. This year’s Festival features a Seafood Throwdown on both days. Two chefs will compete to create a seafood dish using a surprise local seafood ingredient (not revealed to them until they arrive) and fresh, local produce. Chefs can bring three of their favorite ingredients and once they discover the secret seafood, they get $25 and 15 minutes to shop the Festival Farmers’ Market for ingredients. After their shopping spree, they have one hour to cook and present their entry for the judge’s consideration. The contest will conclude with an opportunity for the audience to sample the dishes. The Seafood Throwdown is a collaboration between the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Working Waterfront Festival.
FARMERS’ MARKET
Sponsored by Edible Southshore, the Farmers’ Market (State Pier) features produce and specialty items from a number of local farms as well as informational booths. In addition fresh, local fish, scallops and lobsters will be available for sale. Lees Market of Westport has donated reusable cloth bags which will be given away to the first 250 customers.
FILMS
The Dock-U-Mentary Film Area (Pier 3) screens historic and contemporary footage taken at sea and on shore, chronicling the history and experiences of the working waterfront and the commercial fishing industry. Several short documentary films will also be shown.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
The Narrative Stage (Pier 3) brings the stories of the fishing industry to life with interactive panel discussions. Many of this year’s topics reflect the festival theme including: Changes in Technology, Honoring the Innovators, and Wooden Ships and Iron Men. These discussions are recorded and archived as part of our ongoing Working Waterfront Documentation Project.
AUTHORS
A number of well-known authors will read from and sign their books on commercial fishing, the marine environment, food and farming. Baker Books, an independent bookseller, operates an on-site Festival Bookstore (adjacent to the Narrative Stage on Pier 3) hosting author signings and selling titles of participating authors who include Aliza Green (The Fishmonger’s Apprentice), Karin and Elaine Tammi (Scallops: A New England Coastal Cookbook), Jacob Walker and Rob Cox (A History of Chowder), Skip DeBrusk (Codfish, Dogfish, Mermaids and Frank), and Judy Dutra (Nautical Twilight). We are also pleased to present three children’s authors who will share the stage to present their stories: Daisy Nell (The Stowaway Mouse), Meghan Lapp (Fast Friends and Hello Stranger), and Joanne Leech (Little Ocean Annie and her Clam Dog).
CONTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS OF INDUSTRY SKILLS
Contests offer a unique opportunity to watch those who work in the commercial fishing industry show off the skills of their trade. All contests will take place on the Contest Stage (Steamship Pier). This stage will also be the site for presentations featuring the latest in safety related gear and demonstrating the “tools of the trade” associated with various types of inshore fishing and both inshore and off-shore lobstering. This year’s contests include: Scallop Shucking, Fish Filleting, Net Mending, Link Squeezing, Splicing and Survival Suit Races. In addition, visitors can watch whaleboat races and a tugboat muster from the On Water Activities Viewing Area at the head of State Pier. Learn first hand about historic and contemporary skills of the industry by visiting the industry skills demonstration booths (Steamship Pier) including: net making, knot tying, rigging, scallop dredge making, inshore fishing and more.
BIG BOATS * LITTLE BOATS
A new feature at this year’s festival will showcase boat building. Model boat makers will display a variety of workboats in miniature while youth from the local non-profit Greenfleet will demonstrate wooden boat building skills. Boat builder Harold Burnham who is the recipient of an Artist Fellowship from the Folk and Traditional Arts Program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and has been nominated for a National Heritage Award will also participate.
TOURS
Vessel Tours
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about the different types of fishing vessels first-hand by getting on board one or more of the vessels offering dockside tours and talking with the crew. Vessels offering dockside tours include: a wooden Eastern rig scalloper, a deep sea clammer, a modern day scalloper and dragger, an off-shore lobster boat and a tug boat. In addition, a Coast Guard lifeboat will be available for tours as well as Schooner Ernestina, a 108’ traditional schooner, the official vessel of the Commonwealth.
Harbor Tours
Whaling City Expeditions offers 55-minute harbor tours departing hourly on both Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Walking Tours
Trail maps for a Self-Guided Dock Walk are available at the Waterfront Visitor Center.
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
The U.S. Coast Guard will highlight its pollution remediation work at its’ booth at Steamship Pier. A Coast Guard lifeboat (south side of Pier 3) is available for dockside tours both Saturday and Sunday.
ON THE WATER ACTIVITIES
Whaleboat Races – The Buzzards Bay Rowing Club presents whaleboat races from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 24th. Come cheer on your favorite team. Best viewing: head of State Pier.
Whaleboat Rides – Try your hand at rowing a replica whaleboat. Buzzards Bay rowers will be on hand to provide instruction at Coast Guard Park on Saturday from 2-5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Tugboat Muster – Watch tugboats at work as they compete for bragging rights in hawser tossing and pushing contests on Saturday from 3:30-5 p.m. Best viewing: head of State Pier.
Mini Tugs – New this year, several mini-tugs will present a parade of sail and some on the water antics as a lead up to the Muster on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
BLESSING OF THE FLEET
On Sunday, September 25th the 42nd Annual Blessing of the Fleet will take place on State Pier beginning at 1:00 p.m. A time-honored tradition, the Blessing gives the fishing community an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the successes of the past year and to ask that the Lord’s good blessing continue in the following year to keep each vessel and its crew safe during each voyage.
KID’S ACTIVITIES
Be sure to visit the Kid’s Activity Tent located on Steamship Pier for a boatload of make and take art activities Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 5 including fish prints, shell decorating, paper boat making and more. This area is staffed courtesy of the Art Education Program of the University of Massachusetts.
EXHIBITS
A number of industry related non profit organizations and businesses have booths at this year’s festival Don’t miss the Maritime Artisans Marketplace featuring unique handcrafted work by regional artists.
Be sure to visit A Working Waterfront, a permanent exhibit on display in the Waterfront Visitor Center on Pier 3. For forty years, the Wharfinger building was the site of the city’s seafood auction. Today, in addition to welcoming visitors, the building houses a mini-museum commemorating the seafood auction and the City’s role in the history of the commercial fishing industry. The exhibit was created through a joint effort of the City of New Bedford, the National Park Service and the fishing industry.
SPONSORS
The Working Waterfront Festival is supported by a diverse coalition of individuals, businesses and educational and cultural organizations. Producing Partners of the 2011 Festival are National Endowment for the Arts, Island Foundation and Whaling City Seafood Display Auction. Major support is also provided by The City of New Bedford, New Bedford Harbor Development Commission, Mass Humanities, Southcoast Media Group, United States Coast Guard, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, National Council for the Traditional Arts and Massachusetts Cultural Council. The Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.
The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England's commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen's contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid's activities and more. It all takes place in New Bedford, MA, America's #1 fishing port, on the fourth full weekend of September. Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.
Working Waterfront Festival
PH: 508-993-8894
P.O. Box 6553
New Bedford, MA 02742
Navigate to us on the web at: www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org
2011 Festival Dates: September 24 & 25