Armed with maps, running shoes and some outlandish costumes, 300 people hit the streets Saturday for the seventh annual citywide scavenger hunt, Cluefest.
The free event was organized by The Group With No Name, with the goal of promoting the city as “an exciting and thriving community for people in their 20 and 30s.”
Teams assembled around 1 p.m. at the downtown Pitkin Plaza for an adventure-packed, three-and-a-half hour race. Some came in costume: Inspector Clouseau and several pink panthers; karaoke stars with microphones; three women with a man in a short, pink, polka-dot bathrobe. Attendance was a record high, organizers said.
Some were lifelong New Haveners banking on years of knowledge to guide them through the course. Others were looking for the chance for discover their new town.
At 2 p.m., teams opened envelopes revealing a list of riddles to solve. They jogged down downtown streets, cruised on bicycles, and jumped in and out of cars in search of the answers. Their paths crossed the city from Tweed Airport to Fair Haven to West Rock.
Photographer Mike Pittman, a new arrival to New Haven, sent in some photos he snapped while embedded in one Cluefest team.
At some stops, teams earned bonus clues and points by performing athletic feats. Lisa Grossman punched a bag at Fair Haven’s new youth boxing gym, Boxing in Faith.
At other stops, teams threw small wooden planes at Tweed; struck a pose in the dance studio at the new Co-op High School …
chucked horseshoes at the New Haven Horseshoe Club near West Rock …
and cooled off at the splash pad at Jocelyn Square Park.
The far-flung scavengers reunited for an evening bash at a secret party location, revealed to be the Temple Square Plaza.
A group of young teachers called The East Rockstars (in photos at the top and bottom of this story) scored the biggest honor of the day, the spirit award, earning them a chance to sip champagne from the Cluefest trophy cup.