April 30, 2011. My third annual trip to the fest and the weather was great. I made a reservation at the Lambertville Station Restaurant, parked in their lot for $15 and got $10 back at lunch.
As soon as I left the restaurant, I heard some fine music directly across the street.
Heading east on the main street I came across two other musical groups. It was definitely a good day for good music.
A fixture at Shad Fest is the Indian re-enactor who is an excellent story teller and historian about Shad, the Delaware River, the Lenni Lenape Indians and the Lambertville area. Another re-enactor showed how to prepare Shad for various dishes.
There was no shad hauling demonstration this year. Recent storms destroyed the bridge from the mainland to Lewis Island. In the Delaware off Lewis Island is where the fisherman throw the large nets.
I headed over to the beer garden at River Horse. A rock band was onstage and after each number they reminded the audience that they were up at 2 AM playing a gig and were very tired. I'm still not sure why the audience needed that information.
On the main street, the church door was open and when I walked in, it looked like a wedding in progress. They sure had a nice day for it.
I met Elvis by the Lambertville Station Restaurant. He was in good voice too.
People watching is one of my favorite things at the Fest.
April 24, 2010. One of our annual trips is Shad Fest and the weather was perfect. Paddy and I had earlier made a reservation at the Lambertville Station Restaurant and we took advantage of their parking lot at the center of everything. They charge $15 for parking and you get back $10 when you eat at the restaurant.
Having never eaten Shad, I finally tried the blackened Shad is it tasted good. Paddy had a chicken and walnut salad.
After lunch, the first thing we noticed was the large number of folks who had dogs as pets. They were everywhere and I only took photos of but a small sample.
There were street musicians at various locations in town.
The fest also had scheduled bands and this 17 year old alto sax player was excellent.
The Indian re-enactor entertained and enlightened the crowd on the history of Shad, the Delaware River, the Lenni Lenape Indians and the Lambertville area.
With large crowds of visitors, people watching was a requirement of being there.
In the very middle of all the food vendors, the music, and the noise of the crowds, was this lady who seemed out of place, quietly reading a book.
For the kids there were many things to do including "painting a shad" and face painting.
Vendors were in abundance and some wore silly "Shad paper hats".
The "Kettle Korn" must have been very good because there was a very long line of waiting customers. While I did have Shad for lunch, I passed on having Shad Punch.....
From the Lambertville - New Hope bridge, we saw the steamboat and decided to take a ride. We strolled down to the Ferry Landing, purchased a ticket, and came aboard. The Steamboats name was "splash".
We had a very nice half hour ride up and down the Delaware River passing under the Lambertville-New Hope bridge and seeing familiar sites.
The crew of the Steamboat SPLASH, told the history of commerce on the river when barges of coal came down the river and unloaded at this stone entrance way.
After our steamboat trip we walked over to the River House brewery to check out the "beer crowds". They had a live band and It was a packed house as usual.
On such a nice day, a stroll along the canal in Lambertville proved to be relaxing and picturesque.
There were some funny T-shirts and an occasional a person just flopped down on the sidewalk for a rest.
April 25, 2009. Fantastic warm weather brought out thousands of visitors to the Annual Lambertville, NJ Shad Fest.
This year, everyone got a treat as the shad hauling demonstration, off of Lewis Island, netted about a dozen shad. The crowd was told that because of numerous factors, not every demo would yield results. When the shad appeared in the net, the crowd cheered.
The media was also present to record the unusual event.
Always a favorite pastime at festivals, was people watching and plenty of interesting, as well as good looking candidates were enjoying the warm weather.
A large crowd gathered at one point and upon investigation it was a visit by none other then New Jersey's governor Corzine. Last year, Senator Lautenberg visited the festival.
Another event well worth the visit.
April 26, 2008. The Annual Lambertville Shad Fest was underway with decent weather, lots of food and lots of interesting people. The festival celebrates the return of the Shad to spawn after years of Delaware River pollution, which kept them away.
The Lambertville Station Restaurant has always been my favorite place to eat and represents the Icon that shows me I have arrived in town.
To reveal Shad history, several in-costume representatives, explained how the indians and colonists cast nets and prepared the fish for their families.
Of course, there was food everywhere and everyone was stuffing their face. I tried the Shad chowder but passed on the Shad Punch. (The Shad chowder was very good).
Street musicians helped make the day pleasant. Even the ones in the balcony.
Face painting was popular, even with the adults.
For some reason, there were more people with dogs today than at any other festival I have attended.
Vendors were present, selling insurance, vacation trips, storm windows and one popular one that gave away free candy bars.
Big crowds, unusual tee shirts and interesting people everywhere.
I met Frank Lautenberg, Senator from New Jersey.
There were two beer gardens, a horse and carriage ride, a steam boat ride on the Delaware and a walking path along the Delaware Canal.
This is the site where they cast nets and pull in the Shad from the Delaware River.
