NEWBURYPORT — Looking to help support next summer’s Yankee Homecoming fireworks show, over 400 people descended upon Waterfront Park to enjoy Chowder Fest Sunday, with 10 local restaurants entering their chowders to see who has the very best.
“We had great ticket sales ahead of time, and people didn’t care about the weather—they just came out, grinned, and bore it. I don’t think we really had anyone go away unhappy,” Yankee Homecoming President Jason Lacroix said.
The event sold 420 tickets, and featured entries by Loretta, The Grog, Michael’s Harborside, Mission Oak Grill, Port Vida, Port Tavern, The Poynt, Thirsty Whale, Tuscan Sea Bar & Grill, and Paddle Inn/Sunset Club.
Mission Oak was chosen for people’s choice and best New England chowder, while Loretta won best alternative.
Loretta Executive Chef Jay Racki said he was “thrilled” to have his chowder recognized as best alternative.
“It felt good to make something a little bit different—a Manhattan-style, or tomato-based chowder, as opposed to a creamy chowder. I thought it was kind of cool, and a lot of people really liked it,” Racki said.
He said it was his first time entering a chowder fest.
“It was unbelievable. I was really surprised by the turnout, it was a lot of people, but it was fantastic,” Racki said.
He said he is very excited to enter again next year to defend his alternative chowder title.
Lacroix said he was thrilled with how the first year event went, calling it a “tremendous success.”
Asked about his favorite part of the day, LaCroix said he was running around so much that it was tough to single out any one moment.
“I was kind of grabbing one here and there when I could instead of really focusing, but they were all awesome. All the chefs went over and above putting stuff together. Everybody really embraced the challenge,” Lacroix said.
The fundraiser came after Yankee Homecoming had to reduce the contract from $40,000 to $20,000 for this year’s fireworks show due to lower-than-usual BrewFest fundraiser ticket sales.
While Lacroix said they are still around a month away from figuring out the total they raised from this event, he said it was a good start no matter what.
“I’m not sure how good, we’ll see how the rest of the fundraising goes. It’s definitely better than starting off with nothing. But again, it was a first-year event, so we’ll do our best to build it in the future,” Lacroix said.
For the latest on future Yankee Homecoming fundraisers, visit yankeehomecoming.com.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.