Hoffman's of Point Beach Among Competitors in Ice Cream Festival Saturday

Hoffman's of Point Beach is among the ice cream shops competing in the New Jersey Ice Cream Festival in downtown Toms River on Saturday.

Ice cream aficionados can celebrate both local and unique flavors in a statewide competition for the best ice cream. About 10,000 visitors are expected at the festival on Washington Street.    

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ice cream tasting is from 11:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Tasting kits are just $7 on the day of the event, and $6 in advance— available at the Downtown Toms River Office at 218 Main St.

The New Jersey Ice Cream Festival pits local landmarks such as Hoffman's against others from throughout the state. Jody Alessandrine, Director for Downtown Toms River, said 20 vendors will enter this year.

They'll be competing in two categories: People's Choice and Special Judges Category, which judges vanilla.

But fans of chocolate, strawberry or other flavors need not worry it's a vanilla-laced event. There will be plenty of variety in People's Choice.

Each vendor churns at least 50 gallons to be used in the competition. To be among the people choosing the People's Choice, get a tasting kit.

Some of the ice cream purveyors competing are:

Cranford Vanilla Bean Creamery (Cranford, NJ), Dream Scoops (Nutley, NJ), Fajji’s Homemade Ice Cream (Edison, NJ), Gifford’s Ice Cream (Skowhegan, MA), Hoffman’s Ice Cream (Point Pleasant Beach), Main Scoop (Manasquan, NJ), The Sprinkle Shack (Bayville, NJ),  Two Sisters Ice Cream Stop (Beachwood, NJ), and Zita’s Homemade Ice Cream (New Providence, NJ).

And if you like entertainment with your ice cream, there's plenty of that too.

The Tidal Wave Band will play from 2:30-4 p.m. Other entertainment will include the Oceanaires Barbershop Chorus and The Kootz Band. There will be inflatable rides for the kids, balloonist and stilt-walkers.

Needless to say, you can also eat ice cream competitively. There will be Ice Cream Eating Contests for both kids and adults.

Running concurrently with the event is the Wooden Boat Festival in Huddy Park. Unique vessels and even pirates will be part of the fun, making it an even livelier day downtown.

For more information, click on Downtown Toms River here.