A delicious festival showcasing the best seafood the Coromandel has to offer is returning to the peninsula this weekend.

Mouth-watering mussels, ‘o' for ‘awesome' oysters, fantastic fresh fish and more will delight the taste buds when the Coromandel Seafood Fest kicks off at Coromandel Area School on Saturday.

And making the festival that little bit sweeter - entry is by gold coin donation.

A Thames-Coromandel District Council spokesperson says there'll be more fun than you can shake a beer-battered crab stick at during this year's seafood festival.

Highlights this year include two performances from the Royal New Zealand Navy Band, and a cooking demonstration by Derek the Chef, author of cookbook The Backyard Gourmet.

'Derekhas appeared on popular television series Gone Fishin' for seven years and Prime TV's Food Culture. He's published six cook books for home, barbeque, camping caravan and motorhome, and also writes recipes for magazines such as Pacific Powerboat and others.”

On Saturday Derek will be giving cooking demonstrations at 10.30am, 11.30am and 12.30pm.

The festival will also feature several competitions – The Gold Ridge Marine Farm Junior Fishing, The Wearable Arts Competition, and the annual cook off between local restaurants Umu, The Peppertree Restaurant and The Success Café.

'Umu's chef took out the prize last year and there have been promises made to remove his title by the competing chefs.”

There'll also be a stash of great prizes up for grabs in The Gold Ridge Marine Farm Junior Fishing Competition which is open to all children aged 14 and under.

On Saturday the competition will kick off at 6am, and to be in line to win prizes, all young anglers must be at the weigh-in by 2pm.

Entry for The Gold Ridge Marine Farm Junior Fishing Competition is free and available at Coro Fish and Dive. Entries close 5pm on Friday, May 5.

While the Wearable Arts Competition, which was a hit in 2016, is promising to be bigger and better this year.

'Entries must be in by 5pm on Friday May 5 at Coromandel Fish and Dive and must be sea themed.”

The Coromandel Seafood Fest takes place at Coromandel Area School on Woollams Ave in Coromandel Town on Saturday, May 6, from 10am-4pm. Entry is a gold coin donation.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/coromandelseafoodfest/