Razor Clam Festival arrives with an Irish twist

By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON

Three major events coincide on the North Coast this Saturday, prompting this question: Will there be any “servin’ of the green” clam chowder at the 12th annual Razor Clam Festival at the Ocean Shores Convention Center?

This Saturday will see a new single-day version of the popular public event. It will bring what may be the last opportunity to dig clams on the Copalis digging area until fall, and it is also St. Patrick’s Day.

There will be plenty of chowder prepared by coastal “cuisine-artists” at the festival, which opens at 10 a.m., goes all day and concludes with a karaoke contest that starts at 7 p.m. Whether any of the Northwest delicacy will be tinted green remains to be seen.

Piper Leslie, executive director of the Ocean Shores/North Beach Chamber of Commerce, explained that several changes have been made to the event, notably making it free to the public and reducing it from three days to just Saturday.

The Chamber also is offering a ticketed dinner and fund-raising auction Friday night at the Shilo Inn on Ocean Shores Blvd. Leslie said they’ve sold around 90 of the 130 available tickets for the “Tides of Change” dinner and auction that includes a prime rib dinner with seafood appetizers, music by Ericka Corban, a “wine pull” sponsored by Martin Bruni Liquor and an auction conducted by Eric Bjella. Tickets are $40 and are available at the Chamber office, 114 E. Chance a La Mer, and at the door Friday night. Doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner is served at 6.

The festival itself, sponsored by Quinault Beach Resort & Casino, opens at 10 a.m. Saturday and brings several speakers, free family activities, upward of 40 vendors (including a dozen non-profits) and the traditional amateur and professional clam chowder contests. Leslie said she expects up to five local restaurants will compete in the professional chowder cook-off. Buying a “tasting ticket” lets the public sample the chowders, then vote for their favorites. This year, Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for state Department of Fish & Wildlife, has scheduled digs on a couple of not-so-low evening tides: Friday, 7:03 p.m., +0.2 feet; at Copalis and Mocrocks; and Saturday, 7:36 p.m., +0.2 feet; at Copalis and Mocrocks, plus Long Beach and Twin Harbors.

According to the website, www.wdfw,wa,gov, the next tentative dig dates are April 19-22, but at this point, they do not include the Copalis beach, which covers all of Ocean Shores and Ocean City and extends north to the Copalis River. The tentative schedule does include the Mocrocks beach, which runs from the Copalis River north to Moclips. Ayers will speak at the festival twice Saturday.

More information is available online at www.oceanshores.org/event/razor-clam-festival/ and at the Facebook page, Ocean Shores North Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Schedule: Saturday

11 a.m. — Amateur seafood & chowder entries must be turned in.

11 a.m. — Speaker, Kyle Deerkop, Coast Seafood

12 p.m. — Speaker, David Berger, author of “The Razor’s Edge: The Washington Razor Clam Phenomenon”

1 p.m. — Amateur seafood & chowder judging

2 p.m. — Speaker, Dan Ayres, Department of Fish and Wildlife; How to dig razor clams

4 p.m. — “People’s Choice” professional clam chowder judging closes

4 p.m. — Speaker, Dan Ayres, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; How the razor clam fishery is managed

5 p.m. — Professional and amateur seafood & chowder winners announced

7 p.m. — Karaoke contest begins