Gallons of clams, oysters and more are moving into place for Chincoteague’s annual seafood festival

The Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce will host its 56th Annual Chincoteague Seafood Festival, a water-to-table event showcasing the Eastern Shore’s seafood industry this weekend.

Held rain or shine, it draws around 3,000 ticket-holders who come to enjoy a bevy of crustaceans, bivalves, fish and tasty side dishes.

The Seafood Festival is an important “shoulder season” event for the island, bringing visitors into local shops, motels, restaurants and other businesses all weekend long, according to Joanne Moore, the chamber’s director.

Hosting a successful event requires a lot of advanced preparation.

“An event like the Chincoteague Seafood Festival doesn’t come together in a day – it’s built on months of planning, countless details and a shared commitment to create an event that’s memorable and beneficial to our community,” Moore said.

She and her “small, but mighty” staff of two other full-time employees, plus one seasonal part-timer, rely on help from approximately 300 volunteers working behind the scenes throughout the year and on festival day. Some volunteers, Moore said, have helped for decades.

“Planning a large-scale event also means preparing for everything you can and adapting quickly to everything you can’t, so those in attendance have a seamless and pleasant experience,” she said.

Sometimes, though, Moore has had to punt.

The Chamber had to cancel in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In 2021, size restrictions for gatherings prevented the event from taking place. Instead, Moore said the Chamber hosted a town-wide scavenger hunt with prizes.

Plans for the next festival begin almost immediately after the previous one concludes. Tents are ordered seven months in advance, but musical entertainment is booked a year ahead.

Moore, who has a degree in accounting, relies on spreadsheets to keep everything on track throughout the year.

“We actually have a by-the-hour spreadsheet for the festival day itself, “ Moore said.

Setup begins the Sunday before the festival begins. Portable toilets arrive, and Navy and Coast Guard volunteers help with heavy equipment and setting up picnic tables. Other volunteers hang banners or rope off the entrance and exit lines.

Tear down isn’t complete until the Thursday after it concludes.

“It takes a village. Every volunteer, vendor, partner and sponsor plays a role in the festival’s success,” Moore said.

“The Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce is extremely grateful for their time, talent and dedication. They are truly the heart of the festival.”

Photo courtesy of the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce

Tommy Clark, owner of Tom’s Cove Aquafarm and Don’s Seafood Restaurant on Chincoteague, is one of those hearts who also wears many hats; he supplies much of the seafood for the festival. The rest he procures through other local aquafarms, ordered months ahead.

He also secures the refrigerator trucks required by code to keep the seafood properly chilled, as well as ice for the raw bar and other tents.

It’s a lot of seafood.

The menu includes about 50,000 steamer clams in mesh bags, 75 gallons of chopped clams for fritters, 75 gallons of shucked oysters for single-frieds and 750 pounds each of fried fish and steamed shrimp. About 3,000 fresh clams will be served on the half shell and 75 bushels of seaside oysters will be steamed or shucked for the raw bar.

Clark said the clams are bagged the morning of the festival. Oyster and clam shucking for the raw bar also happens that day, on site in its own tent.

An assortment of side dishes rounds out the menu: hush puppies, crab cheddar jalapeno poppers and clam chowder are all served. Don’s Seafood provides the salad bar. Grilled chicken is prepared by Tyson Foods.

Clark also coordinates the shuckers, who work at the event’s raw bar.

He said it’s a dying profession; the average shucker’s age is 70.

“Younger people don’t seem interested,” he said.

Roger Wharton has worked for Clark’s aquafarm for 20 years and is a fixture in the festival’s raw bar tent. Now 65, he’s been shucking since he was 16.

“When I was growing up, we would farm all summer and shuck all winter for our living,” he said of his family, who lived near Assawoman on the mainland.

Wharton can shuck a gallon of clams in 15 minutes, depending on the size, and can shuck a bushel of oysters in a half-hour.

He plans to shuck as long as he is physically able, because he loves what he does and needs to stay busy. One thing Clark won’t catch him doing, though, is eating into the profits.

“I love clams and oysters every which way but raw,” Wharton said.