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It’s Shad Festival time again in Lambertville!

Event will be held from 12:30-5:30 p.m. on April 26 and 27, rain or shine.

Ruth Luse
   Lambertville’s 33 annual Shad Festival will be held from 12:30-5:30 p.m. on April 26 and 27, rain or shine. Admission is free.
   The festival, organized in 1981 to celebrate the “return of good water quality and American shad to the Delaware River, “ also focuses on the area’s arts community and the City of Lambertville, which becomes the site of a downtown street fair.
   Each spring, the festival “coincides with the heart of the American shad run up the Delaware River,” according to a website. “Lambertville’s commercial links with shad span more than a century.”
   The Lewis Fishery, which dates to 1888, is located on the south end of Lewis Island, at the bridge that connects Lambertville and New Hope. The family, according to a website, “holds the only remaining commercial license to catch shad with nets.”
   During this weekend’s festival, families can see shad-seining demonstrations at Lewis Island, where Delaware River Basin Commission staff members will teach attendees how to test water quality. These events will begin at 1 p.m. both days on the island at the end of Lambert Lane.
   BUT, what if you don’t like shad or fish of any kind? No problem. The festival welcomes lovers of all foods.
   There will be many things to eat, do and see at Shad Fest. Explore www.lambertville.org/14shadfest.jsp or www.shadfest.com to plan your weekend:
   — At the Food Court, there will be everything from taco salads to fried calamari. There also will be shad chowder, hot dogs, fried Oreos, hamburgers, fries and fresh lemonade, as well as Wild Bill’s Olde Fashion Soda (homemade sodas like root beer, cream soda and sarsaparilla).
   To the rear of the food court, find the Heart to Hearth Cookery booth and learn about colonial methods of cooking shad as well as how the Lenape cooked and preserved shad.
   — For families, there will be face-painting, cotton candy, sand art and other children’s activities. And, this year, the rides for children will be back.
   — There will be plenty of artists and crafters. Eighty of the region’s artists and crafters featuring everything — jewelry, ceramics, furniture, apparel, accessories, home décor and more — will be displaying and selling wares at the festival.
   Ellen Pineno, who is coordinating the event, recently said: “We’ll have a lot of fine artists and crafters again. Favorite vendors of years past are returning” as well as those coming for the first time.
   — Music will not be centrally located on a stage as it has been in the past. It will be at venues in different areas of town, according to Ms. Pineno. “The hope is that this will get visitors to travel around the Fest more than they might if we still had the one stage.”
   Music is expected to be provided by The Shackers, John Sontag and the Tall Tones, Waterfront Blue and the Jane Paul Trio. There also will be live music at the Cafe Galleria, North Union Street, at the Lambertville House, Bridge Street, in the parking lot of the Lambertville Station (also on Bridge Street) by their beer garden, and on the steps of the Bank of Princeton.
   The Bank of Princeton will feature local, live music on the front porch at 10 Bridge St. Spotlighted on Saturday will be the South Hunterdon Regional High School jazz band; high school student band, The Jars; and local band, Acoustic Road. On Sunday, a New Hope School student band, the Fisher Project and the New Hope–Solebury Regional High School jazz band will be featured.
   — Over 150 original art posters, created and donated by local artists, will be on display in the recreation room of the First Presbyterian Church, 31 N. Union St. These posters will be auctioned off on Sunday at 3 p.m. Proceeds will go to scholarships for students pursuing a college degree in the arts. Stop by the church to see auction posters. Local schoolchildren’s posters will be on display at the Justice Center, 25 S. Union St. Visit www.shadfestposters.com for more information.
   — South Hunterdon Regional High School’s Parent Teacher Student Organization is holding its annual, major fundraiser that supports a variety of activities and scholarships for students and is asking your help.
   The busiest days of selling Rubber Duck tickets occur at Shad Fest.
   Those who can spare two hours between noon and 5 p.m. on either April 26 or April 27 are urged to sign up. Sunday afternoon is the time when the most volunteers are needed, “so if you can, please sign up then,” said a spokeswoman. Just email Janine MacGregor at [email protected] and tell her what time works for you.
   — Families with children 5 to 14 are invited by the Lambertville Historical Society to take a special walking tour of Lambertville. This tour starts at the Marshall House, 60 Bridge St. on April 26 at 2:30 p.m. A $5 donation per family is suggested. The tour leaders will be architectural historian, Vanessa Zeoli, and immigration and labor historian, Lauren Braun-Strumfels.
   Regular walking tours of historic Lambertville also will be offered on ShadFest weekend (April 26 and 27) beginning at the Marshall House at 3 p.m. These are free to LHS members. A $5 donation is suggested for others.
   Call 609-397-0770 or visit www.lambertvillehistoricalsociety.org for more information.
   — The Delaware River Steamboat Floating Classroom, a paddlewheel steamboat, will offer rides for a $5 donation on Saturday and Sunday from 12:30-5:30 p.m.
   The steamboat, also called SPLASH (for Student Participation in Learning Aquatic Science and History), offers classes in clean water ecology and American history onboard the vessel to school and adult groups. The steamboat, built in 1970, is a replica similar to riverboats on the Delaware River, circa-1880. While onboard, passengers have the opportunity to learn more about “America’s First Great Invention.”
   Passengers will buy tickets and board SPLASH at Lewis Island. To get to Lewis Island, turn onto Lambert Lane from Bridge Street. Signs will takes visitors to the island, which is accessible via a footbridge off of Lambert Lane.
   For more information, visit: www.steamboatclassroom.org.