The Belmar Seafood Festival will be held in the downtown area for the first time this year.

The annual event used to be held at the beach, but officials said that it has outgrown that space.

“Usually if the weather is good, we’d almost have 100,000 for the whole weekend, so it has really grown over the years,” says Belmar Mayor Mark Walsifer.

The event, now in its 33rd year, features vendors, restaurants, artists and entertainers. It will be set up in the downtown area around the Pyanoe Plaza and its parking lot, right near the Belmar train station.

The mayor says that the bigger space is meant to ease traffic and fewer road closures, as well as highlighting Belmar’s booming business district ahead of summer.

“A lot of people can come in on the train. They’ll be walking into the downtown area and seeing what great businesses we have in the downtown area,” Walsifer says.

But some business owners say that they aren’t convinced that this is a good move. They tell News 12 New Jersey that they are worried that regular customers won’t be able to get to or park near the stories.

The Seafood Festival will be held Friday, May 17, through Sunday, May 19.