Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce Cancels 2018 Scallop Fest

BOURNE – A popular fall Cape Cod event has been canceled this year.

The Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce has made the decision not to hold Scallop Fest in 2018.

The festival had been held on Cape Cod for the last 48 years.

Along with fried scallop dinners, the festival featured chicken dinners, a raw bar, lobster rolls, clam chowder, salads, wraps, hamburgers, hotdogs and desserts.

Scallop Fest also included several musical acts, arts and crafts shows, rides and games and more.

Canal Region Chamber Executive Director Marie Oliva says several factors led to the decision to cancel the popular festival this year.

“We’re just looking at it from year to year with the price of scallops, and the price of infrastructure,” Oliva said. “And everything it takes to put the event on is very risky if the weather is inclement.”

Attendance fell significantly last year due to poor weather from the remnants of Hurricane Jose.

“We looked at all the overall parameters of how to make this work for us, but for this particular year we don’t think it can work,” Oliva said.

The event is the Chamber’s largest fundraiser. Much of the proceeds from Scallop Fest are also given back to the community.

Oliva said the Chamber has begun looking into alternate sources for funding and other types of events.

“We’ll take into consideration other projects that we hope to be working on,” she said.

Oliva said the three-day event, and the manpower required, is a large task to make work.

“You have to look at other programs and projects that we can do that won’t be that risky,” she said.

Oliva, who has worked on the event the last 20 years, said she has mixed emotions about canceling the event.

The Chamber is leaving open the possibility of a 2019 return.

Oliva said if the event was to be brought back next year it would definitely not return to the renovated Buzzards Bay Park.

The event was started as a small cookout by fishermen at Buzzards Bay Park. The gathering grew year after year as more people would be invited before it was finally opened up to the public.

The festival has also been held at several different locations, including the National Armory building in Buzzards Bay and Joint Base Cape Cod.

The event was moved to the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in 2014.

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

About CapeCod.com NewsCenter

The award-winning CapeCod.com NewsCenter provides the Cape Cod community with a constant, credible source for local news. We are on the job seven days a week.



CapeCod.com
737 West Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Contact Us | Advertise Terms of Use 
Employment and EEO | Privacy