One of the things you’ll notice about the Lowcountry is how much we enjoy having fun. Locals enjoy sharing a good time with our neighbors, and proof of that is the wealth of community festivals hosted each and every year. We even have an oyster festival.
In an area with so much history and tradition, we celebrate everything from the water, to food, to our lifestyle and our culture.
One of these festivals is coming up in January, the annual Beaufort Oyster Festival. This massive two-day festival is a celebration of community and the bounty of the sea. Two things very near to the heart of folks that call the Lowcountry their home.
Oysters have been a steady part of the local Lowcountry diet for thousands of years. Mounds of discarded shells and ceremonial shell rings are scattered throughout the barrier islands here in the Lowcountry, discarded by Native Americans some 4,000 years ago.
The event is set for January 20th and 21st in Downtown Beaufort, SC at the popular Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, and it includes a bit of everything for everyone.
The event opens with a 5K, appropriately named the “Oyster Boogie,” through the streets of historic downtown, and the festival offers free admission, live music and lots more. You can register for the 5K here.
Schedule:
Saturday, January 20th 10am-6pm
Live Music from 4 local bands all day long.
Over 15 local organizations will also be on hand to help you learn about oysters, their history, oyster shell recycling, and the sustainability of oysters in our local aquaculture.
Sunday, January 21st 11am-4pm
Live Music from two local bands all day long.
Cornhole Tournament
Over 15 local organizations will also be on hand to help you learn about oysters, their history, oyster shell recycling, and the sustainability of oysters in our local aquaculture.
On both days, the Beaufort Oyster Festival menu options will include steamed, raw, roasted and fried oysters, as well as other food options for those that love a festival, but don’t love oysters, which are definitely an aquired taste.
All oysters served at the festival are all locally farmed or harvested from local Lowcountry waters, lending support to area fishermen and the Lowcountry way of life.
The festival is kicked off the week before, on January 11th, with the “Tides to Tables Restaurant Week,” which features a week full of local restaurants showing off their oyster and other seafood dishes in a price fixe menu.
