Shad bake

A shad bake, also called a shad roast or shad planking, is a culinary tradition found on the east coast of the United States, particularly associated with the state of Connecticut. Typically occurring in the springtime (when the shad are swimming upriver to spawn and thus are the most available), it consists of nailing American shad fillets to planks of wood and baking them around an open pit fire.

Shad bakes are typically large community-wide events, with some featuring live music, carnival games, historical presentations, and other entertainment. They also in the past were centers for political campaigning, a tradition that still continues with Wakefield, Virginia's annual Shad Planking event.