📅 Friday, Mar. 6-Sunday, Mar. 8, 2026
📍 Downtown Coupeville
💰 $0-$50, event depending
✏️ See full schedule for all events
🎟️ Tickets and more information here
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Musselfest — a celebration of all things mussels — right in the heart of Coupeville.
Located on the northeast coast of Whidbey Island, Coupeville is also home to Penn Cove, the oldest mussel farm in the United States. Penn Cove mussels are world famous, cultivated fresh from Washington’s waters.
Admission to the festival is free with activities such as kids projects, craftmaking, exhibits, live music (including sea shanties by local favorite, the Shifty Sailors), the mussel eating contest (yes, it’s just what it sounds like) and mussel-cooking demonstrations by chef Derrell Mullin of Ivar’s Mukilteo, Pacific Seafood Mukilteo’s chef Michael Wieczorek and chef Jackie Huerta from Zaninis Catering and Events sharing different techniques. Chef Wieczorek will also go head-to-head with Captain Whidbey Inn’s chef Sean Prater for a lively competition — mussel tussle — complete with samples for the audience.
While food, drinks and other goods will be available for purchase at booths (Paella House, Kingfisher Bookstore, Whidbey Pies and more), you’ll have to buy tickets ahead of time for the main event: the chowder tasting. Sample local restaurants’ secret mussel chowder recipes and vote for your favorite. This year’s participants bringing their own unique flavors to the table include the Captain Whidbey, Front Street Grill, Molka Xete, Oystercatcher, Osprey Fish Co., Goldie’s and the Roost, The Spectacled Sasquatch, The Pizza Factory and Tyee Hotel & Restaurant — hurry before it sells out!
Other ticketed events include the 21+ mussel mingle, complete with food, drink, music and dancing, as well as boat tour bookings of the mussel farm. There will be a free shuttle to get you around to different tasting spots, but be forewarned that parking can be a bit tricky. The lot by the library is always a good bet. Happy tasting!
