The Rotary Club of Annapolis has opened ticket sales for its 81st annual Crab Feast, scheduled for this Friday, August 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Organizers expect the all-you-can-eat spread of crabs, barbecue and corn on the cob to draw more than 1,000 guests. The gathering remains a major fundraiser for the Annapolis service club.
General admission costs $95 for adults and $35 for children ages three through 12, according to Eye On Annapolis. "Come feast with us and enjoy Maryland's world famous crabs and crushes," Sangty Mam said, in comments the outlet reported.
Reserved and VIP Tables Fill Out the Guest List
Reserved seating, per the newly opened ticket menu, runs $135 for an individual ticket, with a table for 12 priced at $1,800 and a table for 14 at $2,100. VIP seating, which organizers describe as limited, costs $190 per person, with a table for 10 at $1,900 and a table for 12 at $2,280.
Raffle tickets are sold five for $20, with a top prize of $1,000, a $500 second-place prize, a $250 third-place prize and a bushel of crabs for fourth place. Both event and raffle tickets are available through the Rotary Club of Annapolis.
An 81-Year Tradition Rooted in Charity
The Crab Feast dates back to 1946 and is marketed as the world's largest crab feast, held rain or shine at the stadium every year, according to Visit Annapolis. At full scale, the event has fed crowds with roughly 320 bushels of steamed crabs, 3,400 ears of corn, 100 gallons of crab soup, 1,800 hot dogs and 150 pounds of beef barbecue, the tourism group notes. Proceeds from ticket sales are funneled to local charities and nonprofit groups through the club's Crab Feast grant program.
Since 2005, the club has distributed more than $1 million in community grants generated by the Crab Feast. In February, the Rotary Club of Annapolis awarded this year's proceeds to 25 local nonprofits, including the Anne Arundel County Food Bank, Light House Annapolis and Hospice of the Chesapeake, according to a Rotary Club of Annapolis announcement.
Zero-Waste Effort and a Pandemic-Era Pivot
The feast also runs as a zero-waste event in partnership with local nonprofit Annapolis Green, collecting up to 14.5 tons of crab shells, corn cobs and paper products each year to convert into commercial compost sold to the public, Visit Annapolis reports. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the club paused its traditional mass seating in 2020 and 2021, temporarily shifting to a drive-thru "Crabs to Go" pickup format at the stadium, the outlet notes.
Bay Survey Points to a Rebounding Crab Population
This year's feast comes as Maryland's blue crab population shows an improving, if uneven, picture. The 2026 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey estimated a total bay population of 349 million crabs, a 46 percent jump over the 2025 estimate of 238 million, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Juvenile crab abundance jumped 121 percent to 228 million, the highest level since 2019, state wildlife monitoring showed.
Adult female blue crab numbers told a more cautious story, falling 25 percent to 81 million — still above the 72.5 million threshold but well below the 196 million target — which prompted fisheries scientists to recommend precautionary harvest guidelines, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Rotary's Giving Extends Beyond the Crab Table
The Crab Feast is only one piece of the club's philanthropic calendar. The Rotary Club of Annapolis also distributed $42,500 in Foundation Grants in July and raised $97,000 for Chrysalis House through its March gala, according to the club.
