Despite rides, games and music, the oysters at New Rochelle”™s first oyster fest were the big draw.
“The oysters were definitely the highlight,” said Denise Daly, co-owner of Armonk-based JADE Creative Events, one of the companies that sponsored the fest.
Daly”™s business partner, Jacklyn Lim, agreed.
“Next year, I would like to include several different types of oysters for patrons to try,” Lim said. The oysters were a huge hit and I think people would enjoy sampling selections from all over the East Coast.”
The event, held Sept. 25-27 at Five Islands park, drew 5,000 people.
“I think that a lot of people had a good time; it was very family oriented and the kids really loved the ride and the games,” Daly said. “We learned from this year on what we can improve on for next year. For example, the seafood was such a hit that we want to have more seafood vendors participate. It is something that is going to build throughout the years and hopefully get bigger and better as we go along.”
This year”™s event featured two seafood vendors, The Striped Bass in Tarrytown and The Greenwich Lobster House.
A rainy Sunday impacted ticket sales, which cost $8, for the fest, Daly said.
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“Unfortunately Sunday we had some rain, but Saturday everybody enjoyed themselves,” Daly said. “We couldn”™t run the rides, but we had everybody underneath the beer tent.”
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New Rochelle businesses and nonprofit organizations had booths set up at the fest. New Rochelle Italian restaurants Posto 22 and Bella Bella provided food and dessert.
“We tried to have organizations based in New Rochelle there,” Daly said. “Regal Cinemas was giving out free movie tickets, Verizon was giving out some free goodies also which was nice. Habitat for Humanity had a table with things for the kids to do, like showing them how they build houses. The kids were hammering nails, they really enjoyed that. The YMCA had sand art, which did really well.”
This was the first time JADE, which has done a lot of work with the city of White Plains, worked with the city of New Rochelle.
“Bill Zimmermann (New Rochelle”™s commissioner of Parks and Recreation) was very helpful in guiding us through the process and connecting us with different organizations in the community,” Daly said. “We are looking forward to next year.”
Zimmermann said the event promoters, which included JADE and marketing company OSM Partners, funded the event at no cost to the city.
“It was a great first year event,” Zimmermann said. “I think it can grow into something nice; an annual festival for the city.”
