Mystic Eats kicks off Friday
Groton — Organizers hope to make Mystic Eats, the riverside food festival from Friday through Sunday in downtown Mystic, a more child-friendly event this year.
In prior years, bands at the festival on Cottrell Street played in the back of the shed at Seaport Marine in an area restricted to adults at least 21 years old.
This year, organizers are setting up a tent adjacent to the shed so that everyone can see the bands, said Todd Brady, chairman of Downtown Mystic Merchants Association Inc.
“We‘re also going to have a rock climbing wall and a dunk tank, which is new,” he said. Both will be set up in the parking lot next to the Scott Center near the intersection of Washington and Cottrell streets.
The festival is scheduled from 5 p.m. until 9:45 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. until 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Sunday.
Twenty-six restaurants are participating, up from 17 restaurants last year, Brady said.
Most are Mystic based and include Spicer Mansion, the newly-opened Chapter One restaurant and Sift Bake Shop. The Jealous Monk, a new beer garden in Olde Mistick Village, and Dog Watch BBQ also are joining the festival.
Live music starts at 6 p.m. on Friday with the White Eyed Lizards and Will Evans, and ends on Sunday with Blue Dog and Wild Sun. Five other acts are scheduled Saturday.
"The feedback I’ve gotten (is) Mystic is in a lot better shape than it has been in the last five years. I think things have finally turned around,” Brady said. "Definitely looking up."
The downtown has seen an increase in the number of dining establishments, with growing foot traffic in the evenings, boosted by the success of the businesses including the Oyster Club, Pizzetta and Sift.
There's no admission charge to the festival, but the event sells $1 tickets to buy food so that no money changes hands. A portion of the proceeds from the event goes to the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center, a social service agency that provides food baskets, other assistance and senior programs in Westerly, North Stonington and greater Stonington.
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