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.

If you have a catered party in the summer like ours, I think you should have the caterers serve seafood. You are going to spend a good sum of money on catering, and for just a little bit more money, you could serve interesting seafood rather than the run-of-the mill catered food like chicken and macaroni that you often find at these events.

Our parties for July, the 4th have usually about 200 people more or less. Maybe not 200 all at once, but throughout the day, I can estimate we have no less than that number. One thing it's important to tell is that I don't suggest a clambake celebration unless you have at least about 40 people, since it would be it would be somehow wasteful. Provide you have 40 or more people, I think it's a good idea.

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.

We are glad to announce this years clambake celebration party on July 4th. The planing has been done already, we can't wait for it to be July! Serving clambake was such a success last year and we expect the same for this independence day. Make sure not to miss the fireworks and the water balloon fight! There will be plenty of beer.