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Have been attending for over 25+ years and never was more disappointed than this past Saturday... How can you call it a chowder festival with only 7 venues participating... A far cry from previous years when you had over 20+ venues. I hope it gets better next year or lower the entrance fee to $10, because that is all it was worth in 2018.
Great location. Good food and drinks. Variety of chowders to taste. Always a fun day.
The competitor turnout at the Chowder Cook off was very disappointing . There were only a handful of them this year. I've been when there were upwards of 15 to 20 entrants. Now that's a competition!
the chowder was outstanding, the only issue I had was I don't understand why people form lines to get a sample of chowder instead of just grabbing one and walking away, I have been past years and it worked a lot better, it would also help if the contestants had people circulating with samples on trays, Only one booth had people going around and they won my vote for most spirited. Waiting in line for ten minutes each was ridiculous
There were only 8 tents of chowder this year which was extremely disappointing. Still $20-$25 for way fewer tents. Not sure if I will go next year
There seemed to be more food trucks than chowder categories. So....essentially we paid $20 for a whole bowl of chowder. Also, could not bring an alcoholic beverage outside of the bar area. The setup was much better when it was located in town several years ago when we attended. If we could have asked for a refund, we would have! Very disappointed and will certainly not be attending in the future.
Need more booths for chowder like when it was in town... like 15 booths when I was growing up...lack of locals. But this picture is awesome with Kip and tony
Ive been a chowdahead for 10 years! Its been a disappointing change from the wharf! First year at fort adams was awful with only 5 booths and large lines. i gave it a chance for the second year and it did get better with more booths but i was extremely disappointed again when there were only 10 booths for such a large location! It will never be the same as it was at the wharf its just unfortunate! :(
I have been to quite a few of these events and by far this one was the worst. Only 8 vendors were sampling their chowders. Not much to brag about if you win!!! I will not be back next year. Too bad because it has been fun in the past.
Awesome event at a spacious venue. I would like to see more seating available for those, like myself, that have mobility issues and need to sit and rest often.
I Wil not attend next year have been every year for the past 15and this was the worst
Awful. Definitely not what it used to be. Only 8 chowder participants. Lines extremely long and not worth the $20. My advice....,, get more participants!!!!! Much better when held on Thames St.
As like many people that attend, we have been going to the Chowder Fest for many years. The amount of participants has been going down the last few years. .And they are pretty much the same folks. Attendence seemed to be down as well. Our House was a nice suprise as I have seen them in Connecticut ( the best Chowda Fest on east coast). The vendors are usually the same (and good). Sorry note; Matunic Oyster bar was selling oysters so small for $3 each. Not good. The beer area had plenty of tables and chairs this year. Seemed like it was split half and half on crown size between beer area and vendor. Overall it makes a nice day, but the organizers need to step it up if they want this event to coninue. Look to the Chowda Fest in Connecticut. They got it down!
there was only 10 vendors for chowder there. and 3 of them were good. the bars were not stocked correctly . they didnt have any soda for mixed drinks. . they need to have more things to do there especially with a lot of ppl bringing children now, they should prob think of having a bouncy house for kids, some cornhole and games of that nature especially when there is only 10 to try. i been going since day 1, and that might of been my last one if it doesnt change and i usually go with about 20 of us. not a good time this year.
We always go to the Chowder Festival and have gone for 28 years. Always a good time. A few things I would hope to see in the future: more food for young children...chicken nuggets, small orders of fries, milk, cotton candy. Last year there was face painting and balloon art and bean toss. Nothing this year, at least not during the Chowda Club early entry time. The list of participating restaurants seems to be dwindling. Still a good day. Every Chowder Festival when the sun is out I always tell my family: "God loves CHOWDER".
Attended last year-there were 20+ chowders entered. This year there were only 8. Not enough to accommodate all of the people attending. Long lines for a tiny cup of chowder. There were a lot of other venders there which made it a nice day.
So I've been going for MANY MANY years now since I was a kid and I've only ever missed 2 years since I started coming. I think everyone forgets that if you eat boatloads of chowdah, which is the whole point, then...You got your money's worth. I'll be the first to admit that the first year the event was at Fort Adams was pitiful, but it was because it originally wasn't supposed to happen at all so competitors couldn't prepare in time to come out (not many) and noone made enough because they THOUGHT attendance would drop. OOPS. Now I admit I wasn't there last year but two years ago it was...Fine. And three years ago was amazing. All things considered all you can eat chowder for 20 bucks ain't bad at all. And while I did say two years ago was just okay (because not too many competitors, I admit) what competitors WHERE there had quality chowder. I read reviews for the 2017 Cook Off that complained of No creamy chowder (WHICH SCARED ME SINCE I LOVE CREAMY) and another about how there we only 12 competitors 4 of which were Manhattan so...THAT I agree with. Here's to hoping this year (Which is in just a few days now...) is better BUT I HAVE TO REMEMBER the whole point of going: Try all the Chowders, pick your fave, then GORGE YOURSELF ON IT! You'd be surprised how many competitors will shout out: "I don't care if you ate ours twice already, eat it a third time!" And if they don't then they won't win...
We have been coming to the Chowderfest for some 25 years and it's always been a GREAT TIME, rain or shine!!!
The Chowder cook-off was an amazing event. I will surely be looking to buy tickets again next year. It was fun and low-key.. There was no rush.. We got to try every chowder as many times as we liked. It was a great time for all. :) :)
As always the contestants were happy and engaging with the crowd. This is our go to event every year, and we LOVE it. We also have a pretty good record with voting for the winners!
