Musselfest Chair Kellie Sites holds a belt studded with “real diamonds,” which will be awarded to the winner of the Mussel Tussle.

In the middle, Chef Michael Wieczorek from Pacific Seafood cooks his best mussel stew in a challenge against Chef Robert Spaulding from Elliot’s Oyster House, at right. Saturday, Wieczorek was crowned the winner of Musselfest’s first ever cooking competition, the Mussel Tussle, an idea that came from Emcee and Chef Michael Weeks, at left.

Michael Weeks, at left, observes as Robert Spaulding cooks some mussels to impress the judges. Spaulding, who lost by a small margin, is a chef at Elliott’s Oyster House in Seattle.

Hungry audience members wait for the mussels to be judged. The ingredients used in the mussel stew included Calabrian peppers and pomegranates.

Judges try the mussel dishes before choosing the winner of the Mussel Tussle. The seven judges were selected from the audience.

Daniel and Linda Munoz traveled from Seattle to get a taste of the world famous bold, briny and blue. Though the gale winds blew some tents around and led to the cancellation of the boat tours on Sunday, the event was a success. According to Musselfest Chair Kellie Sites, thousands came to enjoy the mussel extravaganza, which featured 1,930 pounds of mussels and about 1,100 chowder tasting tickets sold.

Audience members enjoy some mussels at the Coupeville Recreation Hall, away from the cold. Musselfest also featured the traditional chowder eating contest, which was won by Goldie’s and the Roost, followed by The Oyster Catcher and Captain Whidbey, according to Musselfest Chair Kellie Sites.

Mussel Tussle winner Michael Wieczorek holds his mussel belt for the crowd to see. The next day, Chef Michael Weeks from Callen’s dueled against Sean Prater from Captain Whidbey, who won.