PORT ANGELES — The 2014 Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival was a record-breaker, according to happy but tired organizers as the festivities drew to a close Sunday afternoon.
In addition to the largest crab order ever made for the three-day festival, organizers had to order extra crab — twice, said Scott Nagel, festival director.
Nearly 8,500 pounds of crab were purchased and served for the festival at the north end of Lincoln Street in Port Angeles, Nagel said.
Last year, which was a record year, the festival purchased and served about 7,500 pounds, he added.
John Moeller, former White House chef and author of Dining at the White House: From the President’s Table to Yours, was also a big draw at the festival, especially for local residents, Nagel said.
Moeller’s demonstration Saturday and his appearance Sunday at The Gateway pavilion at Front and Lincoln streets attracted hundreds to learn some of the chef’s secrets.
The annual cooking demonstrations attract many visitors who are interested in gourmet cooking, Nagel added.
“We’re attracting very highly qualified chefs now,” he said.
Rainy weather both helped and hurt sales.
A pair of afternoon rain squalls Saturday drove people into covered arenas such as the main tent and the demonstration stage at the pavilion, said Russ Veenema, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce director.
“We almost ran out of wine,” Veenema said.
“They had to call to their wineries, ‘Bring down more,’” he said.
Nagel and Veenema said that nearly all the crab was gone by the end of the festival Sunday.
“We sold more crab on Friday and Saturday than we sold all weekend last year,” Nagel said.
They attributed the increase in crab sales and visitors to a larger tent for crab diners to eat, a Black Ball Ferry Line package deal for Canadian visitors — round-trip from Victoria plus a crab dinner — and longer hours Friday.
The community meal in the main tent on the Red Lion Hotel parking lot opened at noon this year instead of in the evening as in the past.
On Sunday, three giant-screen televisions were set up in the main tent and a side tent so Seattle Seahawks fans wouldn’t have to miss the game to attend the crab dinner.
More than 100 people were seated in the side tent with two of the televisions, while a third television was placed in the main tent, where about 500 were seated.
A Seahawks raffle was held during halftime.
While the downpours — and the football game — brought people into the tents, it also drove them off City Pier, where vendors sold art, clothing, jewelry, food and other items.
Despite the rain, vendors reported better sales than the 2013 festival, which had nearly perfect weather, Veenema said.
Nagel said that the increase in sales is partly due to a recovering economy.
He added that the lift in the economy made it harder to find volunteers.
“A lot of our volunteers have jobs this year, and couldn’t get time off to help,” he said.
In the festival’s Marine Debris Art Contest, Port Angeles artist Richard Stephens won the competition’s people’s choice award for his sculpture, “Fukushima Nightmare.”
In this contest, voting took place at Hollywood Beach on Friday and Saturday; the winner was announced Sunday afternoon.
For the inaugural art contest, Stephens created his piece using water bottles and other trash collected on local beaches.
As the winner, he’ll receive $100 in Crab Festival merchandise.
Along with work by the other two contestants, “Spring Chicken” by Tammy Hall and “Ocean’s Revenge” by Dani LaBlond, “Nightmare” will be on display in The Landing mall atrium, 115 E. Railroad Ave., until Nov. 5.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz contributed to this report.
