Chesapeake Crab & Beer Fest

Handful of friends paid full price ($ 89) for the VIP tickets and couldn’t find seating together. Spent 2 hours waiting for a spot to open up. Beer was served in small tasting glasses, maybe 4 ounces. Had to either make a million trips back and forth or pay even more for pitchers.
If you’re going to do this, go platinum. Or better yet, don’t go at all. For the $ 500 we spent between the five of us we could have had an amazing time somewhere else.
Oh, and the tables were gross. When we finally did get seated it was over someone else’s mess. And paper towels were like gold. I made a mental note to bring my own disposable table cloth and paper towels. Then I remembered I’m not doing this again.
The only reason I gave two stars is because the crabs were good and plentiful.

I attended as a guest of a friend who had an eXtra VIP ticket to the am session. It was our first time and we will go again now that we know what to expect. One the parking and where the event was held was not clear. We thought the event was on the waterfront and parked accordingly only to find out the event is on other side, behind the Gaylord Hotel. Short walk but still could have parked closer. The line at 11:08 was long but moving If you were platinum you got different and expedited access to the festival.
We went to get our beer sampling before heading to the crabs. My fave ale was the Duclaw. It paired well with the crabs. Fresh, sweet watermelon were awaiting us in the VIP as well as old bay/​vinegar/​melted butter. We got our tray of crabs. smedium in size and hot. Corn on cob, cole slaw, mallots and utensils were also avail to grab. Oh and wipes. We headed into thecovered tent where there were covered tables, plenty of seats, paper towels and I hear utz on the table for guests but people snatched those up quickly. It’s ok. utz was there as a vendor giving away free bags for snacking. I ate about 18 crabs and was pleased with the pace of the line to get the crabs.
Afterwards walked around. sampled other libations other than beer. People enjoyed the band and the sunshine on this beautiful day.

Purchased this deal with my boyfriend and was extremely disappointed when we got there. Parking was hectic which was expected). However, I didn’t expect to pay to come out of the garage since I didn’t find parking. It was only $ 3 but it didn’t make sense to me.
Then we get to the festival only to find out that crabs weren’t included. What a bummer. I certainly didn’t drink $ 29 worth of beer. We made the most out of that experience regardless. The live music was great and the food samples were okay.
Next time we will probably buy the crabs to get the whole experience.

This is a problem with Groupon and the festival! This was a very deceptive groupon! I went in thinking I had tickets for all you can drink and eat crab and beer. Then I find out I have to pay for the crab $ 35 every time I want crab! SOOOOOOO deceiving on the part of Groupon and the people that ran the festival. Will NOT be buying a groupon for any festival like this again!!!
The festival was also a MESS!!! Huge lines because they only had 1 person checking ids. Zero signs on where to go and that the groupon people had to buy the crab. No signs or info that everything was cash only purchases. Also traffic was INSANE! We came for the earlier session, so getting in was fine, but leaving took 45min!!! This is because the next session coming into national harbor was backed up for miles on the exit ramp and highway, so cops were stopping everyone from exiting, so they could keep a stream of people coming in! It was a nightmare! NOT going to this festival again!

Just don’t… seriously don’t.
Me and my wife bought tickets on LivingSocial for about $ 30 each which advertised unlimited drinks, music, crabs, etc. When we got to the event we were told that crabs were not included in the price of the ticket, and we would have to pay an additional $ 35 for 6 crabs! The «deal» was actually more money than if we had just paid a full price ticket that included 6 crabs. We could not help feel that this was misleading advertising, as we would not have bought the tickets for unlimited beer. Not surprisingly, we heard several people complaining about this at the event.
We found this out after waiting on line for over an hour to get our pre-​paid ticket. This seemed to be the theme of the day. The event was basically one long line after another — for crabs, for food, and for the unlimited beer. Despite being there for two hours, we did not hear the «live music» once. Of course, we might have missed it when we were standing on line…
The festival seems to be designed to either separate you from your money, or make you so miserable that you will jump of line and just leave.
It was probably the worst experience of our summer. For the money we spent, we could have gone to so many other places for crabs and beer, and had a much better experience.

An incident with the management of the Chesapeake Crab & Beer Festival
My wife and I visited National Harbour on the evening of Friday, August 15^th, 2014, the day before the event, to have dinner. We searched for parking and saw that the event coordinator had several parking lots blocked off to erect tents. During similar events access had been allowed to the handicap parking spaces near the children’s carousel because it is the only, free handicap parking, that we know of, at National Harbour. The road was blocked but we saw a few vendors exiting so we inquired if the spaces were available. They stated that they did not know but that we could speak to the security guard on duty. We entered the area, the saw that the free disability parking was occupied by a vehicle, that did not have a handicap permit, and several tents but other spaces were available. I parked my car and, as instructed, my wife went to speak with the security guard. The guard told her that he did not care but we would need to speak to the event coordinator, who we found out later was the owner of the Trigger agency — Greg Nivens. The security guard pointed to a man that was quickly approaching my wife, she offered him her hand to shake which he ignored and asked «What do you want?» She explained that I, her husband, was scheduled for back surgery the following week and that access to the handicap parking is usually allowed during special events. She asked if we could park there for a few hours while having dinner.
Mr. Nivens then stepped directly «into her face» with one step and said «the only conversation I’m going to have with you is you moving your vehicle from my parking lot right now.» Mr. Nivens is a large man that towered over my 5“2″ wife. She asked him to step back and asked «Why are you in my face?» He stated that «I own this space and you need to get your car out of here right now or I will have it towed» I then saw what was occurring from our car so I stepped out and asked what was the problem? Mr. Nivens said that the problem was that you need to move your car off of my property. Our understanding was that this property belonged to the National Harbour. I said that that was fine but that my wife simply asked you for your permission thus there was no need to attempt to intimidate her. He then began to shout and I asked «Are we going to have a conversation or are you just going to bark orders at me?» He stated «Sure, but the conversation is going to end with you moving your car» At that point I could see that there was no speaking rationally to this person so we exited the area. Upon leaving the parking area we asked the man for his name which he refused to give. We later observed that it was Mr. Nivens vehicle parked in the handicapped spaces.
We will be speaking with the management of National Harbour to inquire if this is the type of vendor that they wish to contract with to hold events at their facility. We have also contacted the National Disability Rights Network to investigate the legality of denying access to handicapped parking during special events. It became obvious to us that this person and organization has no regard for the residents of Prince George’s County or the patrons of the National Harbour.

Fellow Unilocaler Leah S. and I were excited when we found the Living Social deal for the Chesapeake Crab & Beer Festival at the National Harbor on August 16, 2014. Who wouldn’t love crab and beer for a good deal on a summer day?!
The experience upon our arrival was extremely unorganized. There was a huge line that was clearly for the fest but there was no signage explaining if this was the right place to be in line or what exactly was going on, and literally everyone was confused. I walked ahead of the line to check things out and turns out the massive line we were in led us to where we got ID’d and got our over 21 wristbands. We then had to go through another line to get our cups that came with our ticket and gain access to the event. This is also where I found out that the Living Social deal description was inaccurate when it originally described some crabs being included in the deal… WRONG! Apparently if you bought the $ 120 fully priced ticket you then had access to the beer and crabs, but for those of us with the deal, no crabs included. Have no fear though, you could purchase SIX crabs for a whopping $ 35. Leah and I were shocked by the price and immediately decided that we were going to thoroughly enjoy the unlimited booze and visit the vendors, but that later that afternoon we would make our way to our resident NOVA crab house — Captain Pell’s — and pay 13 more dollars to have all-​you-​can-​eat crabs, and you better believe that we did that! It was shocking to me how many people were still purchasing the half dozen crabs for this ridiculous price but if they were like me and disappointed upon arrival they probably just decided to throw the towel in and get them.
Now the highs of the event — the booze vendors! There was a plethora of different beers and ciders to taste depending on what you like, wines, moonshine, liquor, margaritas. It was great! Most of the staff pouring the drinks were super friendly and decently knowledgeable about the product. It was really fun to walk laps around the area and decide what you were going to drink next!
There were a good amount of vendors for shopping. Our personal fave was The Tipsy Lamb where we purchased gorgeous painted wine glasses! Check her stuff out.
The fest gave out free watermelon — how generous! ;)
There were also several food truck/​vendors that were there for the hundreds of people not interested in the massively overpriced crabs. DC Slices was there and had a huge line the whole time for people wanting pizza. There was a cupcake truck, funnel cakes, crab cakes, and one that had kettle corn and cheesecake or key lime covered in chocolate on a stick. We got key lime pie slices covered in chocolate on a stick for $ 5 each and it was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever had!
Lastly, the cover band they had playing on the stage (we were there during the 11am-​3pm time) was great! A huge crowd gathered around the stage to dance. I’m sure all the liquid flowing didn’t hurt, but really, they were good!
I would actually consider returning next year if Living Social/​Groupon does another deal for this, just with the expectation that I need to eat ahead of time and that I was coming to the event to enjoy all the beer/​wine/​liquor vendors not the crabs!

What a mess. I wish I could give negative stars. We didn’t purchase tickets but were willing to pay the extremely high price of tickets at the door. We arrived early and found two people checking identification and putting arm bands on people. People were all over the street in no order or organization while the two people screamed barely audible instructions and cars try to squeeze by. We are told to stand in another line to buy tickets but two other people give us different instructions. Eventually we approach the table on our own and see told that they don’t even know if they’ll have tickets & we have to wait until everyone enters to find out IF there are tickets but they’ll be $ 120 each. We had enough and left. Avoid at all costs.

We bought a friend here for the start of his bachelor party weekend. We did the VIP tickets so we got a tent to sit under with tables. We had unlimited beer and crabs. Nice. There were lots of beers, ciders, and even a few harder alcohols to try. There were some other vendors there for clothing and services also. Once we were in the area where the festival was, the staff was helpful about where to pick up tickets etc.
Given that this is a festival vs a formal event I think it went well. Festivals by nature are not as choreographed as a sit down get together. Yes it can be crowded but that is the nature of the beast. I used what had to be the cleanest port o potty I have ever used. Impressive given that we went for the second session of the festival.
I would have given it five stars except that actually finding the way to where the festival was from the parking areas was confusing. Some people thought it was taking place in the convention center etc. A few more signs stating that the festival was at the waterfront and pointing in the direction you needed to go would have helped especially since there were multiple events going on this weekend.