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| A child from last year’s Fishtival makes a T-shirt (courtesy photo) |
New Hampshire Fish and Lobster Festival at Prescott Park to Celebrate 400 Years of Local Seafood
PORTSMOUTH –
The fun, informative and flavorful 4th annual NH
Fish and Lobster Festival, aka “Fishtival,” returns on Saturday, September 22,
in Prescott Park, Portsmouth, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Admission and all
activities at Fishtival are free, thanks to the support of festival sponsor
Smuttynose Brewing Company and grant funding from UNH Sea Grant. Tastings are
pay-as-you-eat, at $4 each or $8 for whole lobsters.
The largest festival focused on local food in New Hampshire
comes together once again in Prescott Park along the working waterfront where
residents of all ages will have the opportunity to learn, explore and celebrate
a community-based local fishing fleet and its fresh, healthy harvest. Attendees
are encouraged to visit with numerous environmental, heritage and cultural
non-profits along with working fishermen, restaurants and markets for a treat
of the senses and to learn about local seafood resources. This is a great
opportunity to support and honor our local fishing community by bringing fun
and fish together.
To highlight the diversity and quality of the local fishing
industry, visitors are invited to board a local fishing boat, taste
freshly-landed local seafood prepared by Seacoast chefs, learn to identify and
prepare local fish, watch a live celebrity chef cook-off competition,
investigate the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, enjoy local musical performances, and
meet local fishermen. Participants can event create one of a kind fish print
t-shirts with a real fish!
Chefs from local restaurants, markets and culinary programs
across the region will prepare creative, delicious samplings fresh from local
boats. Each participating chef will be assigned, by lottery, a different locally-caught
seafood species to prepare and serve.
Tastings will be prepared by chefs from The Blue Mermaid,
Bonta, The Common Man, The District, Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe, The Old Salt, The
Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth Lobster Co., Seaport Fish, Portsmouth High
School Culinary Arts, and The Stone Church, among others. Attendees can taste
each of the diverse, uniquely prepared arrays of seafood selections.
Activities will be hosted by the Blue Ocean Society,
Seacoast Science Center, Gundalow Company, NH Department of Environmental
Services Coastal Program, New Hampshire Children's Museum, Portsmouth Historic
House Associates, Strawbery Banke Museum, UNH Marine Docents, and the Yankee
Fisherman's Co-op, among others.
Also during the afternoon, there will be opportunities to
meet a lobster, interact with two touch tanks worth of sea animals and paint
with a fish. Aboard fishing vessels, captains will show how they bring in their
haul; on land, listen to different talks about the aspects of the fishing industry,
including innovations and sustainability in the industry, and watch first-hand
the art of net building. Local fishmongers will show how to process several
species of whole fresh fish, and share fish selection and preparation tips.
And for the third year, the festival features an exciting
celebrity chef Seafood Cook-off where the defending champ, Susan Tuveson, will
MC the challenge between two chefs selected from participating restaurants.
Smuttynose Brewing Company, the Seacoast's uniquely local
and award-winning craft brewery, is the festival sponsor. Grant funding is
provided by UNH Sea Grant. Generous in-kind support is provided by Seaport Fish
Market, participating restaurants, educational non-profits, and Seacoast
Growers' Association.
The NH Fish and Lobster Festival is produced by a variety of
community organizations and businesses collaborating to support the local
fishing industry. Seacoast Local and Prescott Park Arts Festival co-host the
event in collaboration with local fishermen through NH Sectors, NH Commercial
Fishermen's Association and Granite State FISH, as well as local food advocates
including Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, NH Seafood Fresh and Local
(www.NHSeafood.com) and UNH Slow Food and their Get REAL campaign.
Fishtival takes place amid a week of events promoting the
local food and maritime heritage on the Seacoast. Events include the Heirloom
Harvest Barn Dinner in Stratham on Sunday, September 23, featuring traditional
food from local fields and fisheries, and the Maritime Music Festival in
Portsmouth on Saturday, September 29, celebrating the local and national
heritage of seafaring and maritime trades by taking nautical songs and music to
the pubs, cafés, churches, and streets of Portsmouth. These singers and
musicians will present a sampler of their lively songs on the stage at
Fishtival.
More information is available at www.fishtival.org. To find
out more information about the movement to support New Hampshire's local
fishing industry, visit www.nhseafood.com.
