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Coupeville Historic Waterfront Assoc.

~ Strengthen, promote, and maintain our successful historic downtown district.

Coupeville Historic Waterfront Assoc.

Tag Archives: City Fish Company

Excellence Award from the State of Washington for Mussel Fest!

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by Coupeville Historic Waterfront Assoc. in Mussel Fest, Mussel Festival

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Acme Seafood, Anthony's Restaurants, Bayleaf, Blooms Winery, Blue Sky Management of Royal City, Brett’s Bread, Brown Line, Cascade Custom Home, Cascade Custom Homes and Design, Christopher's on Whidbey, ciao, Cindy Olson, Cindy Olson Coupeville, Cindy Olson Whidbey, City Fish Company, Corey Oil and Propane, Coupeville Chamber of Commerce, Coupeville Coffee Bistro, Excellence on Main Awards 2015, Excellence on Main Awards Coupeville, Flyers Restaurant and Brewery, Front Street Grill, Frontier Packaging, Hiltons, Island County Historical Society, Ivers seafood, Jet City Lables, Kim's Cafe, Knead & Feed, Lark Kesterke, Lark Kesterke Aqua Events, Lark Kesterke Coupeville, Les Schwab Tires, Maritime Pacific Brewing, McDonald Insurance Group, Mosquito Fleet Chili, Mussel Farm, Mussel farm Pacific Northwest., Mussel Farm Whidbey, Mussels Whidbey, NorPlex, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Penn Cove Mussel Fest, Penn Cove Mussel Festival, Penn Cove Mussels, Penn Cove Washington, Pizza Factory, Plauche and Carr, Rain Shadow Cellars, Santa Monica Seafood, Serendipity Catering, Sierra Gold Seafood, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Spoiled Dog Winery, The Captain Whidbey Inn, The Hose Shop, The Oystercatcher, The Tyee, The Washington Main Street Program, Toby's Tavern, Vail's Wine Shop, Vickie Chambers, Vickie Chambers Coupeville, WA., Washington Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, Whidbey Examiner, Whidbey Weekly, Whidbey/SeaTac Shuttle

We are honored to be among other Washington Main Street towns receiving recognition this year.  We got Mussel!  The hard work, love of Coupeville and “our mussels” pays off.

Penn Cove Musselfest of Coupeville Receives Excellence on Main Award for Outstanding Promotional Event of the Year

WA_StateMainStreetSEATTLE – April 7, 2015 – Penn Cove Musselfest, a 29-year-old tradition in Coupeville, received the Outstanding Promotional Event of the Year award at Washington Main Street’s Excellence on Main Awards Ceremony on May 7 in Bellingham, Washington. The ceremony was held in conjunction with RevitalizeWA, Washington State’s Preservation and Main Street Conference.

Every March, Coupeville hosts a three-day festival featuring mussel eating competitions, farm tours, activities, and a friendly chowder tasting competition. Originally started to encourage eating out during the off-season, the festival has turned into an event drawing 10,000 visitors to a town with a population one-fifth that number. In addition to the strong support from both residents and visitors, 100% of Coupeville restaurants participate in the chowder tasting competition.

The festival represents strong partnerships in the community. Restaurant owners used to finance the event until Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association (CHWA) took it over in 2007, offering to organize and finance the event. Penn Cove Shellfish added a mussel tasting beer and wine garden, and all profits are donated to the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club as well as the Coupeville High School Science Scholarship. The CHWA and Penn Cove Shellfish also provide fifty pounds of mussels, onions, and potatoes for the chowder tasting, Whidbey-SeaTac Shuttle provides free transportation and Puget Sound Express ferries visitors to Shellfish Farm for a tour and education on the environmental guidelines of farmed mussels.

The event also draws ten to twelve chefs who provide a series of free mussel cooking demonstrations for visitors. Chefs are recruited from Whidbey Island, Seattle, the greater Puget Sound area, and Portland.

The impact the event has on the community is significant. The restaurants and businesses in the four-block event area remain the focus of the weekend. Without street vendors, Musselfest becomes the best retail weekend of the year for merchants. The event also creates fundraising opportunities for the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club, the Island County Historical Museum, and the Coupeville High School Booster Club.

In 2015, the 10,000 visitors booked every hotel in the immediate area, north or south. Restaurants were filled to capacity, and many merchants had the best sales in their history. Attendees willingly waited in ferry lines for two to three hours to participate, and tickets were sold out in hours. In every regard, this event has gone above and beyond to boost shoulder season revenues for merchants.

“The community has truly embraced this event, and the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association has made it one of the biggest events of the year,” said Sarah Hansen, Washington State Main Street Program Coordinator. “We are thrilled to be honoring such a long-standing event!”

The Excellence on Main Awards, organized by the Washington State Main Street Program, recognizes communities, organizations, and individuals who are helping to achieve economic vitality and build sustainable communities through downtown revitalization and preservation. Washington’s Main Street Program is housed in the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and administered, under contract, by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

For more information, please contact Sarah Hansen, Washington Main Street Program Coordinator, at the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation shansen@preservewa.org or 206-624-9449.

Local Contact: Vickie Chambers at the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association at 360-320-1143 or vchambers2@hotmail.com.


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The Washington Main Street Program is a division of the Washington Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation.


thank you Penn Cove Shellfish Farm for your leadership and partnership in bringing the mussel fest off every year for 30 years running! 

CHWA Admin 2015 Mussel Fest Awardthank you to cindy olson and lark kesterke of aqua events! 

Thanks to our Sponsors
CHWA Admin 2015 Mussel Fest Sponsors
To our local partners
CHWA Admin 2015 Mussel Fest Partners
And to the countless Mussel Fest Volunteers 
CHWA ThankYou Mussel Fest Recognition

Mussel Fest is nothing without YOU!

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Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 121
Coupeville, WA 98239
Ph. 360-682-6400

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Executive Director Vickie Chambers

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Find out more about historic Coupeville buildings at our Whidbey 4-H AV club site. Click the image below. Thank you to the 4-H AV club for building this wonderful site.

Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association is a Washington State Main Street entity under the Washington State Main Street Program, the Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, and National Main Street Center (a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation).

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