Announcing Great Food, Entertainment & Fun!

Taste the bounty of the Olympic coast and savor the riches from our sparkling blue waters, magical forests, and organic farms at The 5th Annual Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival. The Festival is Saturday and Sunday, October 7-8, 2006, in Port Angeles, Washington. “Crabfest” is the annual celebration of the region’s diverse bounty - the seafood, agriculture and maritime traditions and the breathtaking coastal environment. Crab Central is home to the many local restaurants that will serve northwest cuisine, including the Old Fashioned Crab Feed. The Education Pavilion will give visitors a look at the region and Cooking Demonstrations from expert northwest chefs including John Sarich (Chateau Ste Michelle Winery), Brian Scheehser (The Hunt Club -Sorrento Hotel) and Les Chan (Victoria). On the Pier, stop by the Grab-A-Crab Derby, where you get a chance to crab from large holding tanks, then wander down to see what the more than 50 vendors have to offer.

In the John L. Scott Crab Central Pavilion, you’ll find an Old Fashioned Crab Feed complete with large kettles of fresh crab served with fresh organic corn and cole slaw. The bounty also includes crab cakes and crab rolls, wild salmon, oysters, mussels, and clams, with more than 30 individual dishes prepared by from Olympic Peninsula chefs. Restaurants participating include Bella Italia, The Port Angeles Crab House, Thai Peppers, and Toga’s, along with specialties from Olympic Seafood, Mystery Bay Seafood, and Nash’s. Finish with Desert from friends of the Field and Crab Festival Espressos. North Olympic Sound Wineries presents hand crafted wines from seven area wineries: Black Diamond Winery, Camaraderie Cellars, Fairwinds Winery, Harbinger Winery, Lost Mountain Winery, Olympic Cellars, and Sorensen Cellars. Pyramid Breweries and Olympic Distributing will have some of the Northwest’s most popular beers in the beer garden.

Don’t miss the Festival’s Signature event, the Wilder Auto Grab-A-Crab Derby, where everyone can participate in this unorthodox derby by crabbing from large holding tanks. No license or gear is required. A $5 entry will allow you to use a crab snare for 10 minutes of “crabbing.” Everyone who catches crab will be eligible to win a variety of prizes totaling over $500 each day. For a fee, you can keep your catch to take with you or have it cooked while you wait. Festival volunteers will be on hand to show you how to catch, cook and clean the famous crustaceans.

The First Federal Education Pavilion will present visitors with a schedule of Cooking Demonstrations from great regional chefs and experts. Culinary Director of Chateau Ste Michelle Winery, John Sarich will feature the pairing of northwest seafood and wines of Chateau Ste Michelle. Brian Scheehser, Executive Chef at The Hunt Club in The Sorrento Hotel,(Seattle), will present Quick Crab Crowd-Pleasers. Victoria’s Chef Les Chan injects humor as he demonstrates Chinese Crab. Presentations from Bill Boynton (Dupuis Restaurant in Sequim, Washington), Leonard Johnson (Mystery Bay Seafood Catering, Washington) Joy Siemion (Joy’s Wine Bistro in Port Angeles), and Beth Schleve (B&D Seafood, Washington) round out the informative and entertaining schedule.

The John L. Scott Crab Central Pavilion is also the venue for Great Entertainment including Baby Gramps, who was recently on David Letterman and has just returned from a cross country tour promoting his music, some of which can be heard in the recent Pirate’s of the Caribbean CD. The festival welcomes The Cutters, blending traditional and contemporary folk songs with Celtic, American, and Maritime styles and rhythms, making music that could only be created in America. Joined by bands such as Black Bird, Bowi, Electric Wood, Hot Club Sandwich, Locust Street Taxi, and Rocky Point All Stars, making Crab Central the place to be.

There is more fun On the Pier where great food, shopping, and entertainment provides fun for the whole family. Browse the more than 50 vendors with Northwest products, enjoy great pier food, including kettle corn, wood fired pizza from Wild Fire Grill, fresh roasted organic coffees, and chocolate crabs. Enjoy the original entertainment of R. Chumleigh, a new vaudeville legend who entertains with silly stunts and audience involvement. Rent a bike, go kayaking, or visit the NOAA’s Olympic Coast Discovery Center to enjoy the areas unique marine habitat.

The Festival takes place downtown at the Port Angeles City Pier and Red Lion Hotel. Hours are 10am-7:30pm on Saturday and 10am-5pm on Sunday, and admission is free! More than 2,000 parking spaces are available within a few blocks of the City Pier. Many downtown businesses are open on the weekend and the Saturday Farmers Market runs until 2pm.

For more information including transportation, accommodations, directions, and a complete schedule of events, please go to our website at www.crabfestival.org, e-mail info@crabfestival.org, or phone 360-457-6110.

The Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival is produced by Olympic Peninsula Community Celebrations, a nonprofit corporation, with generous community support from the City of Port Angeles, and the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Festival Presenting Sponsors are: First Federal Savings and Loan, John L. Scott - Port Angeles, Peninsula Daily News, Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles, and Wilder Auto.