The Penn Cove Musselfest this week was named the top promotional event of the year by the Washington State Main Street Program.
“Receiving this award is a huge honor,” said Vickie Chambers, executive director for the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association. “We compete with 33 other Main Street Programs – much are a great deal larger with many more resources than Coupeville.”
Representatives from the waterfront association are attending the two-day RevitalizeWA conference in Bellingham this week to accept the award.
Each Main Street program is asked to submit a “best of” event, Chambers said.
The state Main Street Program highlighted Coupeville’s signature event, noting the strong business and community involvement.
“The festival represents strong partnerships in the community,” the official announcement states. “Restaurant owners used to finance the event until Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association (CHWA) took it over in 2007, offering to organize and finance the event. Penn Cove Shellfish added a mussel tasting and beer and wine garden, and all profits are donated to the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club as well as the Coupeville High School Science Scholarship. The CHWA and Penn Cove Shellfish also provide 50 pounds of mussels, onions and potatoes for the chowder tasting, Whidbey-SeaTac Shuttle provides free transportation and Puget Sound Express ferries visitors to Shellfish Farm for a tour and education on the environmental guidelines of farmed mussels.”
The event was also recognized for its contributions to the local economy.
“The impact the event has on the community is significant. The restaurants and businesses in the four-block event area remain the focus of the weekend. Without street vendors, Musselfest becomes the best retail weekend of the year for merchants.
“The event also creates fundraising opportunities for the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club, the Island County Historical Museum and the Coupeville High School Booster Club,” the announcement continues. “In 2015, the 10,000 visitors booked every hotel in the immediate area, north or south.
“Restaurants were filled to capacity, and many merchants had the best sales in their history. Attendees willingly waited in ferry lines for two to three hours to participate, and tickets were sold out in hours. In every regard, this event has gone above and beyond to boost shoulder season revenues for merchants.”
Chambers said the 2015 Musselfest was one of the best.
“We did really well,” she said. “It’s the most successful one we’ve had.”
Unlike some of the other larger Coupeville events, Chambers said Musselfest isn’t a money-making endeavor for the historic waterfront association. Businesses cover the expense of participating, and in the end, the association hopes to cover the cost of the event and have funds ready to start for the next year.
“It’s all a celebration of those businesses,” Chambers said. “The restaurants work so hard.”
