VENTNOR – Thousands of seafood lovers enjoyed sunshine, cool breezes, crabcakes, lobster rolls, cold beer, music and more at the Downbeach Seafood Festival held in the park overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway on Saturday.
Organizer Jon Henderson of Good Time Tricycle said it was the largest crowd since the festival first came to Ski Beach six years ago.
“Mother Nature brings out the crowds, and she has been good to us this year,” he said.
The festival featured many new restaurants offering tasty bites of their best seafood dishes.
“Our goal has always been to have as much locally produced seafood as possible, and the Oyster Tour we started last year brought out more local seafood farmers than ever,” Henderson said. “This year, all of the fresh seafood is harvested from the Atlantic Ocean in the South Jersey area.”
Chris McDonough of DelCo was enjoying the scene and meeting new people.
“The beer’s cold and the chowders are chowdery,” she said.
Her new friends Tom Schneider of Ventnor and his wife were chowing down on crab cake sandwiches.
“We come every year,” he said. “The food’s good and the crowds are nice.”
Mayor Tim Kriebel took to the big stage to welcome everyone to the city’s biggest event of the year.
“If you’re having fun and eating seafood, you’re doing it right,” he said.
Commissioner Maria Mento said the weather, food, wine and beer were the biggest attractions of the day.
“It’s just fabulous. Thank you, Jon, for bringing this event to Ventnor,” she said.
The festival was held in Atlantic City at Bader Field for several years before moving to Ventnor. When the idea was first proposed, the Board of Commissioners welcomed it with open arms.
Since the festival moved to Ski Beach in 2019, the city has improved the park and it has become a hotspot for entertainment. Weekly concerts are held there on Wednesday evenings throughout summer, and next up is an Eagles Tailgate Party starting at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 19, followed by Halloween Fest on Oct. 26.
“This used to be just a space to launch boats,” Commissioner Lance Landgraf said. “Now we have 4,000 of our closest friends here today.”
Their welcome was followed by a crabcake eating contest. Five candidates had four minutes to make five crabcakes disappear. Reigning Champion Jimmy Lipinski devoured them in record time – 1 minute, 13 seconds – stood up and shouted, “I love Jay’s Crabcakes.” He took home the $100 cash prize.
Vicki Serreino of Elk Township was there celebrating her birthday with her mom, niece and husband. They were having a hard time deciding what to eat because the choices were many.
“We came for the food. This is a good way to celebrate my birthday,” she said.
A feature of the festival is the annual Chowder Cook-off held at the front of the park. For a $10 donation, guests are able to sample more than 20 chowders from area restaurants and cast their vote for the best bowl.
All proceeds benefit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which provides meals to families in need throughout the year. This year, they are hoping to surpass their goal of $5,000, which is enough to provide 15,000 meals to those who are food insecure.
The Downbeach Seafood Festival will continue 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Downbeach Seafood Festival, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13-14, 2025
Copyright Access Network 2025
