Before the charter boats, waterfront restaurants, and summer crowds, Highlands was known for something else: clams. For generations, local baymen worked the waters of Sandy Hook Bay and the lower Raritan Bay, harvesting hard clams that helped support families, local businesses, and the borough's economy. That heritage will once again take center stage when the 31st Annual Highlands Clam Fest returns to Huddy Park from July 31 through Aug. 2, celebrating a tradition rooted in the town's working waterfront.
The first Clam Festival was held in 1995, and this year's event marks its 31st edition. Throughout the weekend, visitors can enjoy fresh seafood, food trucks, local favorites including the Highlands Lions Club's funnel cakes, craft vendors, a beer, wine and sangria garden, children's activities, and live music. Saturday evening concludes with fireworks over nearby Snug Harbor Beach, one of the festival's most popular traditions.
Highlands remains one of New Jersey's most important shellfishing communities. The borough owns the James T. White Clam Depuration Plant, where clams harvested from approved waters are purified in controlled seawater before being sold to restaurants and seafood markets. According to the Borough of Highlands, the facility is one of only two clam depuration plants on the East Coast. It processes an average of 20 to 25 million clams each year, generating about $1 million in annual sales, while supporting 35 to 45 clammers and another 25 plant employees.
Commercial shellfishing has been part of the borough's identity for well over a century, and while the industry is smaller than it once was, local boats still head out daily to harvest clams from nearby bays. The continued operation of the James T. White plant has helped preserve both the local fishery and the livelihoods of the baymen who continue the tradition today.
The 31st Annual Highlands Clam Fest runs Friday, July 31, from 6 pm to 11 pm; Saturday, Aug. 1, from noon to 11 pm; and Sunday, Aug. 2, from noon to 8 pm at Huddy Park. Admission and parking are free. More than three decades after it began, the festival continues to celebrate a tradition that traces its roots to Highlands' long history as one of New Jersey's commercial clamming communities.