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My family has always thrown a Fourth of July party the Saturday before the actual Fourth of July. Some of our traditions are an epic water balloon fight, plenty of kegs of beer, and an extraordinary firework. The most important custom though has always been the food and its display. We usually have something catered like chicken, sandwiches, potato salads, sushi, etc. I recall a pig roaster being hired one year, a nice alternative but very expensive. Last years Fourth of July party though was a total success. We threw a clambake celebration and everyone enjoyed it very much.

I would recommend doing with the seafood route to anybody thinking of throwing a summer celebration similar to what we do. Let's face it- its never really "cheap" to hire professional catering for a party. But, if you have already made the decision to cater anyway, the seafood route isn't much more expensive than the traditional chicken/potato salad, macaroni, or whatever other boring food the caterers typically tend to provide.

A couple hundred people often show up for our Independence day celebrations. Not all of the people show up at the same time, but they come and go over the course of the party, and I guess that 200 or more show up every year. For a successful clambake celebration, you ought to have at least 40 people show up. If you don't have that many people, you may find that you end up having too much stuff and not enough participants. When there are enough participants, it would be worthwhile to have a clambake celebration.

The clambake celebration that we hosted was obviously through a catering company. We ordered a full menu, including clams, mussels, lobsters, and quahogs. They bring over live lobster, and kill/cook them in front of you. Half of the fun (both for the children and the adults) is to watch the showmanship of the chefs doing this. They also have a lot of rocks and seafood laid out that they serve the food on top of.

We went with the "standard clambake", but optional, a "New England clambake" was also available. The price was similar, the difference was probably a more local tweak to the New England version. The one we ordered was delicious, but I wish I could compare the two. I might go with the other option the next time we eat clambake.

Last year's 4th of July clambake celebration was so wildly popular that we couldn't dream of changing the food this year! This year's party is already fully planned, including the fireworks, water balloon fight, and beer that everyone enjoyed last year, and we can't wait for July to come!