Chowder aficionados don’t have to wait much longer, the Penn Cove MusselFest gets underway this weekend.

The weekend festival comes complete with mussel chowder tasting, live music, beer and wine gardens and activities for the whole family.

The Mussel Mingle starts the weekend 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday at Coupeville Recreation Hall.

Participants will dine on Prairie Dogs, mussels and frites, beer and wine while listening to the band Broken Banjo.

Tickets are $20 and are pre-sold sold at Aqua Gifts, bayleaf and Coupeville Chamber. Tickets are $25 at the door.

Nearly every restaurant in town will be participating in the mussel chowder contest, said Vickie Chambers, executive director of the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association, or CHWA.

The association sells three different tickets, with five tastings per ticket. In all, 1,500 tickets are sold both Saturday and Sunday.

But beware — Chambers says tickets always sell out early on Saturday.

Because of business closure and one business having to cancel, two restaurants have stepped up to make twice the chowder — last year’s winner, Coupeville Coffee and Bistro, and Pizza Factory.

Chowder-making restaurants are given 50 pounds of mussels, onions and potatoes by CHWA and Penn Cove Shellfish. The rest of the ingredients and innovation is up to the participant.

Each business plans to give out 500 samples of chowder each day.

“It’s a huge time and financial commitment (for our businesses),” Chambers said.

Free shuttles will take chowder tasters around town.

In addition to the chowder tasting, two beer gardens will offer beverages, music and more mussels.

Penn Cove Shellfish hosts a big tent across from the Coupeville Rec Hall just on Saturday. Live music will go until 9 p.m.

Proceeds from the tent go to the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club and Coupeville High School Science Scholarships.

New this year, organizer Cindy Olson is bringing in DJs Pablo Esco and Mike Check to the CHWA beer garden 12:30-3 p.m. Saturday in the Rec Hall parking lot. The pair will also set up on Front Street Sunday.

The Cranberry Bog Bluegrass Band will perform 1-3 p.m. Sunday.

Curious where all these mussels come from?

A boat will be leaving Coupeville Wharf every hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day for one-hour tours of the Penn Cove Mussel Farm. Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the Rec Hall.

And after you learn all about mussel farming, learn different ways to prepare them with demonstrations running hourly form 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Rec Hall.

There will also be several children’s activities including “fishing” for treasures, music performances and arts and crafts.

Make way to the Windjammer dock 12-2 p.m. both days for a chance to catch a golden mussel in a fishin’ contest for kids.

Chambers said it’s fun to watch the fishing and people will line up along the wharf to watch the people down on the beach.

Save some room each afternoon as contestants line up 3 p.m. each day at the Rec Hall to see who can eat three 16-ounce cups of mussels the quickest.

Events Schedule:

Friday, March 6

5:30-8:30 p.m., Mussel Mingle at Coupeville Rec Hall. Enjoy giant “Prairie Dog” Polish dogs, mussels and frites, wine and beer. Live music by Broken Banjo. Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Available at Coupeville Chamber of Commerce, bayleaf and Aqua Gifts.

Saturday, March 7

10 a.m. to 5 p.m., MusselFest Headquarters open at Coupeville Rec Hall. Buy mussel chowder–tasting tickets and mussel farm tour tickets here.

11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Mussel chowder tasting. Visit local restaurants for samples and vote for a favorite. Tickets are $10.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mussel farm tours leaving from Coupeville Wharf. Tours last one hour. Last boat leaves at 4 p.m. $10. Buy tickets at Rec Hall.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mussel shuttles. Travel the chowder tasting route on a continuous loop through town. Free.

10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mussel cooking demonstrations at Rec Hall.

• 10 a.m., Jon-Paul Dowdell — Roaming Radish
• 11 a.m., Larry Cordova — World Marriott
• 12 p.m., Tim Voss — Etta’s
• 1 p.m., Chris Garr — Ivar’s Acres of Clams
• 2 p.m., Herschell Taghap — Hot Stove Society

11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Children’s activities and songs at Masonic Lodge, 804 N. Main St. Eric Ode, a children’s author and songwriter at 11:30 a.m. Art and activities to follow.

11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Waterfront Beer Garden in Coupeville Rec Hall parking lot. DJs Pablo Esco and Mike Check perform 12:30-3 p.m.

12-2 p.m., Children’s Fishin’ Off the Pier, 22 Front St. Fish for treats and treasures. Free.

12-9 p.m., Penn Cove Shellfish Mussel and Beer Garden, across from Coupeville Rec Hall. Live music. Spicy, Southwestern mussels served 12-5 p.m.

• 12-2:30 p.m., The Orville Johnson Band
• 2:30-5:30 p.m., Jones and Fischer
• 5:30-9 p.m., The Steve Trembley Band

3-3:30 p.m., MusselFest eating competition at Coupeville Rec Hall. $5 to participate.

Sunday, March 8

10 a.m. to 5 p.m., MusselFest Headquarters open at Coupeville Rec Hall. Buy mussel chowder–tasting tickets and mussel farm tour tickets here.

11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Mussel chowder tasting. Visit local restaurants for samples and vote for a favorite. Tickets are $10.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mussel farm tours leaving from Coupeville Wharf. Tours last one hour. Last boat leaves at 4 p.m. $10. Buy tickets at Rec Hall.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mussel shuttles. Travel the chowder tasting route on a continuous loop through town. Free.

10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mussel cooking demonstrations at Rec Hall.

• 10 a.m., Jon-Paul Dowdell — Roaming Radish
• 11 a.m., Larry Cordova — World Marriott
• 12 p.m., Tim Voss — Etta’s
• 1 p.m., Chris Garr — Ivar’s Acres of Clams
• 2 p.m., Herschell Taghap — Hot Stove Society

11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Children’s activities and songs at Masonic Lodge, 804 N. Main St. Eric Ode, a children’s author and songwriter at 11:30 a.m. Art and activities to follow.

12-2 p.m., Children’s Fishin’ Off the Pier, 22 Front St. Fish for treats and treasures. Free.

11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Waterfront Beer Garden in Coupeville Rec Hall parking lot. Cranberrry Bog Bluegrass Band performs 1-3 p.m.

3-3:30 p.m., Mussel Eating Competition at Coupeville Rec Hall. $5 to participate.