It’s almost time for the annual Howard Training Center Crab Fest, set this year for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5 and 6. All seats are reserved, doors open each day at 5:30 p.m. with dinner served at 7 .m.

Both nights will also include live music performed by ‘Livin’ starting at 9 p.m. and there will be a no host bar, door prizes and opportunity drawings, in addition to live and silent auctions.

Officials note that this is a major fundraiser for the Howard Training Center and said though stories of crab season issues here have impacted ticket sales, their crab comes from much farther north than the affected area and is being provided by the same vendor, Pacific Seafood, as in the past 21 years.

The crab is federally inspected and there will also be steak served for those who choose not to eat crab.

Individual tickets are available at $45 per person and there are also sponsorship packages that include crab fest tickets and a variety of other items, from wine at the event, banner, recognition in fest advertising and more. Contact glewis@howardtrainingcenter.com for more details or call 209-593-5618 for tickets or additional information.

Howard Training Center depends on its annual crab feed for a substantial part of their funding and they are hoping the community will support this 22nd annual event.

A popular feature, their famous HTC and ‘crabbie cookies’ will also be on sale at the fest both Friday and Saturday.