The Texas Crab Festival kicked off the 2016 season with great weather and an opening ceremony highlighted by skydivers overhead flying a huge American flag. Visitors were greeted to a weekend of family fun that included over 75 booths featuring local businesses, arts & crafts, great festival food and lots and lots of CRABS! A production crew was on site filming the festival for a web program to air this summer, as well as an event cam streaming all the action live!
Visitors enjoyed great Gulf Coast Music all weekend long with crowd favorite Wayne Toups headlining Friday’s festivities and country music legend Mark Chesnutt drawing record crowds on Saturday night. Bill and JoAnn Ackley were even lucky enough to win a guitar autographed by Mark Chesnutt himself. Saturday night’s Donnie Vondra Memorial Two-Step Dance contest saw Mark and Patti Roznavak take the win.
This year’s events and contests saw a record number of entries as participants battled for Texas Crab Festival bragging rights. Over 250 runners (many in crab costumes) came out to take part in the Texas Crab Festival 5K/1K Run/Walk Saturday morning. 5K overall winner of the race was Justin Dodson. 1K overall winner was Logan Thrower. The Gumbo Cookoff had bigger-than-ever crowds coming out to taste the entries with Team Laissez Bon Temps Rouxler coming out on top. More than 100 entries were submitted by local children for the Texas Crab Festival Media Contest. Dottie DoLittle (with Laura Rojas of Galveston) beat out 27 other dogs to become the Wiener Dog Races champion. 44 Teams competed in the Washers Tournament with Team Ramrod taking the top spot. The Drifters battled it out against 15 other teams to win the Bean Bag Toss Tournament. Other winners included Harold LeBlanc of Crystal Beach who won the golf cart raffle.
Mother’s Day Weekend 2016 closed on another successful festival season, all thanks to the tireless efforts of over 250 volunteers and over 50 generous sponsors. The festival would not be possible without their continued support. And as always, all proceeds from the Texas Crab Festival go to fund scholarships, grants and programs that benefit the residents of the Bolivar Peninsula. Stay tuned to see what’s next – visit texascrabfestival.org or follow the latest news on Facebook at facebook.com/texascrabfestival.
Donnie Vondra Memorial Texas 2-Step Dance Contest
Winner: Mark and Patti Roznavak
5K Run – Overall Winner: Justin Dodson
1K – Overall Winner: Logan Thrower
Wiener Dog Races
Winner: Dottie DoLittle, owned by Laura Rojas
Crab Gumbo Cookoff
Winner: Laissez les bons temps rouxler
Crenshaw elementary students who won the Crabfest poster contest:
Row 1 L-R: Sofia Tovar, Yaremy Herrera, Sol Gutierrez, Eduardo Rodriguez, Sarita Perez, Maddie Blume
Row 2 L-R: Carol Guevara, Jada Browning, Cassidy Weber, Ivan Hernandez, Jiya Desai, Lillian Dailey
Row 3 L-R: Freddy Ortiz, Sophie Clark, Ryan McClelland
Crenshaw Middle School students who won the Photo Contest:
Row 1 L-R: Julizza Vernon, Blake Walker, Sol Gutierrez, Ana Liz Castillo, Caroline Stallings
Row 2 L-R: Dustie Walker, Hannah West, Gabriela Sanchez, Hannah Alexander
Row 3 L-R Ameray Perez, Lacye Tedder, Gavin Barnett, Sarah Weeks, Jessica Ortiz, Sage Smith, Mackenzie Catching
Washers Tournament
Winner: Team RAMROD
Bean Bag Toss Tourney
Winner: THE DRIFTERS
Golf Cart Raffle
Winner: Harold LeBlanc
Mark Chesnutt autographed guitar
Auction Winners: Bill and JoAnn Ackley
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