A new festival is slated in the seaside city of Wilmington – and it seems to be a natural fit.

The inaugural Wilmington Seafood Festival, spanning two days in October, will showcase the area’s history and seafood industry. Organizers said that one mission of the event is to raise awareness of the industry’s economic impact on the Cape Fear region.

“This festival will promote and foster relationships between those who live in our communities and local seafood harvesters, who make their livelihood bringing seafood-to-table everyday,” said festival organizers Tina Ablang and Chris Gore. “This festival will be a great collaboration of all the talent and [the] varieties of seafood that are available to us right at our back door.”

The event – which coincides with National Seafood Month – will also feature local chefs, who can be an intricate piece in the local seafood-purchasing puzzle. The chefs will conduct cooking demonstrations to highlight the fresh-catch ingredients that they often use in their restaurant kitchens.

What’s more, Ablang said that the Wilmington Seafood Festival also aims to promote another slice of the local economic pie: tourism. With career backgrounds in the area’s hospitality industry, Ablang and Gore said they’re acutely aware of tourism’s significance in the community.

“We realize the economic impact that tourism has on our area,” Ablang said. “By hosting a festival such as this would only solidify that Wilmington is a destination area with much more to offer than just the beaches.”

Happening along the Cape Fear River at the duo’s Events at Watermark Marina venue at 4114 River Road, the festival will also feature live music from local musicians.

The seafood fest will also highlight the need to protect local waterways. Ablang said that a portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit Cape Fear River Watch.

“[Cape Fear River Watch’s] mission is to protect and improve the water quality of the Lower Cape Fear River Basin through education, advocacy and action,” Ablang explained. “Cape Fear River Watch was a natural fit when we were deciding what nonprofit to partner with.”

Participating fest chefs are still being selected but those confirmed include, “Chef Andrew [Cushing] from Dockside Restaurant, Chef Brent [Poteat] from 22 North, Chef Sam [Cahoon] from Ceviche and more to come,” added Ablang. Beer trucks, with microbrews available to wash down all the edible fare, will also be on-site.

Admission to the Wilmington Seafood Festival, happening Oct. 17-18, is free. For more information, go to the wilmingtonseafoodfestival.com.