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Shadfest sees second year of celebration

Jeanne Sager
Posted 5/23/23

W hen Debra Conway asked Johnny Pizzolato what he thought of a shad festival, the chair of the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway Committee knew there was only one way to answer.  

It was an …

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Shadfest sees second year of celebration

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When Debra Conway asked Johnny Pizzolato what he thought of a shad festival, the chair of the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway Committee knew there was only one way to answer. 

It was an immediate yes ... a yes to the work that it would take to pull together the now annual event in Narrowsburg, and a yes to bringing attention to a fish that’s a key part of the local ecosystem. 

Now in year two, the Shadfest held Saturday evening was sponsored this year by the Scenic Byway Committee, Sullivan County Government, the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association and the Delaware Company, the latter of which Conway is the executive director. 

The Festival of the Founding Fish was celebrated all throughout the past week, with various events held around the county.

A night of music, fun and celebrating the shad at the Fort Delaware Museum, Shadfest is a way of celebrating not just the fish itself, Pizzolato said, but the river towns and the intertwining of the fish and our communities. 

The party was made alive by music provided by DJ Kristine Barilli, Boyscott, and Shredder Thor. Celebrity Chef Annika Sundvik gave the party-goers a taste of something new with freshly-prepared Shad for taste testing.

More food was provided by Nikki C’s Seafood, with drinks served by Eldred-based, TAP NY 2022 Festival Winning Brewery, Shrewd Fox, and more.

The shad play an important role in the history of the country and the community, Conway explained. General John Sullivan, for whom the county was named, was once ordered by then General George Washington to take his men into the Schuylkill to divert the shad into nets where they could be caught to feed the colonial army. It’s believed that helped sustain the colonist fighters through the winter, Conway said. 

Bringing that historical context into the mix, Fort Delaware seemed the perfect host for the festival, which Conway hopes can one day rival that of Lambertville New Jersey’s two-day extravaganza for the fish. 

“The fort is supposed to be the anchor of the history in it,” Conway noted. 

It’s also a spot just of the main drag in Narrowsburg, and the hope is that Shadfest can bring in economic development in what Conway referred to as the bumper season, that period abutting the bustling Sullivan County summer. 

“It’s going to take a lot of time to get to where Lambertsville is,” she said. 

But like General Sullivan’s men working to move the shad in the right direction, the planners of Shadfest are here to put in the work. 

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