Dancing, Food Kicks Off 23rd Seafood Fest

Thousands flocked to their favorite food booths and danced to their favorite Hampton Beach entertainers Friday night as Ocean Boulevard welcomed back its favorite weekend of the year.

The crowds Friday for the 23rd annual Hampton Beach Seafood Festival weren't as packed as previous opening nights of the gala, although there were still long lines at many vendor booths thanks to the cool, sunny weather.

Rick Griffin, the chairman of Hampton Board of Selectmen, was impressed with the "quite active" kickstart to the festival — which — and said he looked forward to getting a prime rib sandwich, lobster roll and some of his other favorite Seafood Fest treats.

"I think they've done an excellent job," said Griffin, who said he'd like to see more retail businesses get involved in order to expand Seafood Fest's offerings even more. "I think I see a better operation going [than previous years]... It's the way they have everything all laid out with the tents, and the vendors they have. Everything looks like a high standard of quality."

Hampton-area officials celebrated the opening of the festival Friday night with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. State Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) and Phil Bryce, the director of the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, did the honors, which were held in the middle of a performance by The Reminiscents that had hundreds waving their arms to the beat and dancing.

Chief Chris Silver said Friday seemed a little slow compared to some years, although he said Saturday is traditionally the "packed" day and expected this year to be no different.

The official schedule for the rest of Seafood Fest, which includes Saturday's , as well as a vendor map and parking information .

Do you have photos of the festivities? Post them in the gallery attached to this article!