“Amazing” weather and national promotion brought record crowds to Coupeville over the weekend.
An estimated 6,000 people filled the streets on Saturday and 3,000-4,000 Sunday, exceeding everyone’s expectations.
“It is everything we have been working toward,” organizer Cindy Olson said.
Olson, along with Coupeville native Lark Kesterke, operate Aqua Events, which has organized MusselFest the last nine years with the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association and Penn Cove Shellfish.
The attendance was more than anticipated, even bringing in international visitors from the Ukraine and Canada.
Olson said she believes the increase in attendance is partly due to national attention by USA Today.
Organizers sold out chowder-tasting tickets by 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and, by day’s end, various groups were having to make supply runs.
Penn Cove Shellfish’s mussel tent cooked 1,300 pounds of mussels in four-and-a-half hours on Saturday, said Karen Jefferds, assistant general manager for the shellfish company. “We were right down to the very last bag.”
Proceeds from the tent go to the Coupeville Boys & Girls Club and a science scholarship for Coupeville students.
The Coupeville Booster Club sold 700 pounds of mussels at its booth, said president Christy Kellison.
“We sold over double what we’ve done in the past,” she said. “It was the nicest weather we’ve ever had.
“The sun definitely helped.”
Kellison said the club sold out early on Saturday and had to place an order for additional mussels Saturday night.
In all, Penn Cove Shellfish harvested 6,000 pounds of mussels for the event, including the additional 1,000 pounds it had to harvest Sunday morning, Jefferds said.
The company generally harvests 4,000-4,500 pounds for MusselFest, she said.
That total includes mussels provided for the chowder-tasting contest, group booths, cooking demonstrations, mussel eating contest, and to the various restaurants for sale and to take-home orders.
Restaurants served up 15,000 chowder samples in hopes of becoming this year’s winner.
In the end it was the Captain Whidbey Inn that took home the top spot with its mussel and salmon chowder.
Two off-island visitors came out on top for the mussel-eating contest, which was held once each day of the festival.
Matt Dunk from Port Alberni, British Columbia, won on Saturday.
Sara Session from Seattle competed for her third year both Saturday and Sunday.
A 2014 champion, she was beat out by one mussel Saturday so she returned to claim her crown Sunday.
Attendance was also up for MusselFest side events.
In the five years the Whidbey Island Bicyle Club has held its Mussels in Kettles bicycle poker ride, attendance has doubled each year, said club president Matt Plush.
This year’s event had 316 participants, including more than 30 families.
While event organizers weren’t expecting such a high volume of traffic, everyone seemed happy with how smoothly things went.
“I was pleased with how smoothly it ran,” Jefferds said. “It was really nice to see.”
There were only a few minor hiccups, which organizers dealt with and are modifying plans for next year.
Coupeville Marshal Rick Norrie said he was amazed at the volume of people who came to town Saturday.
He said this was the first year the marshal’s office has had to direct traffic.
One issue Norrie said he dealt with was people illegally parking and he issued a handful of citations.
Chowder-tasting tickets sold out on both days as well as tickets for the mussel farm boat tour.
A steady crowd lined Coupeville Wharf through the day Saturday with many people waiting several hours to take the tour.
Vickie Chambers, executive director of the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association, said they remedied that situation by selling tickets for specific sailings on Sunday, rather than making it a first-come-first-served basis.
“We always have a good weather plan and a bad weather plan,” Olson said. “But we don’t have an amazing weather plan.”
