Fall Staple: Seafood Festival Comes to Point Beach Saturday

Seafood, wine, live music and pony rides and games for the kids are among the offerings at the Festival of the Sea in Point Pleasant Beach on Saturday.

The event, known locally as "the seafood festival" and sponsored by the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with Sunday scheduled as the rain date.

The “Festival of the Sea” is a street fair located in the heart of downtown Point Pleasant Beach, on Arnold and Bay avenues, where visitors sample dishes by 25 of the area’s finest restaurants (from clam chowder to lobster to steak).

There will also be:

• arts and crafts, pony rides and games for the kids;
• antiques and tables manned by nonprofit organizations providing information on health, business, local community happenings and more.
• a “wine garden” with samples from 10 of New Jersey’s premier wineries.  Purchase a wristband for $15 to enter and sample your choice of over 100 of New Jersey’s finest wines.
• more than 200 crafters and artists
• plenty of tables available so visitors can sit, eat and enjoy the live bands, including oldies, rock, folk and other types of music.

For those who want the least amount of crowds and the best parking spots, the earlier you go, the happier you will be.

For those attending sometime past morning, you might want to consider one of the three shuttle buses running from noon to 8 p.m. on the following routes:

One shuttle runs from Jenkinson’s boardwalk, to the NJ Transit train station, to Broadway to Ocean Avenue to Arnold Avenue and back to the NJ Transit train station.

Another bus runs from Point Pleasant Borough High School parking lot on Panther Path, just off Beaver Dam Road (where a sign will be posted), to Lincoln Avenue and the other runs from the parking lot (formally the Southern House lot) at the corner of Route 35 north and Washington Avenue.

After 35 years of growth, about 60,000 people have been attending the festival in recent years.

The festival is one of the recipients of the American Business Association’s “The Top 100 events in North America."

It's probably not a good idea to bring your dog since they are not permitted in the food areas (and that's a large percentage of the festival).

For more information, call the Point Pleasant Beach Chamber of Commerce at 732-899-2424. The attached photos are all from the festival in September 2011.