Shuck, eat and learn all about oysters during Beaufort’s new 11-day festival in 2021
The inaugural Beaufort Oyster Festival – Queen of the Carolina Sea Islands is combining good food and drink with events that focus on education, culture and tradition revolving around South Carolina’s Lowcountry oysters.
The 11-day festival begins with “Tides to Tables” in conjunction with S.C. Restaurant Week and concludes with a week of “mini festival events” throughout northern Beaufort County.
The festival was created by the Beaufort Area Hospitality Association to attract both locals and visitors to the Sea Islands to indulge in oysters while learning about the agri-tourism economy and other aspects of oystering culture, including “historical, architectural, ecological, agricultural, culinary, artisan and more.”
Here’s the lineup of events:
▪ Beaufort’s Tides to Tables Restaurant Week (Jan. 7-17) returns for a second year with oyster dishes or cocktails being featured on at least 10 area restaurant’s menus.
▪ Winter Sidewalk Sale (Jan. 9) is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with shopping displays set up outside of participating Downtown Beaufort Merchant’s Association storefronts. This event also includes an Oyster Festival Scavenger Hunt with oysters that are worth prizes hidden throughout downtown.
▪ “EDUCATION: The beginning of an oyster” (Jan. 14) is from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center on Okatie Highway. The family-friendly event is free with early registration, which is a COVID-19 precaution. There will be live educational demonstrations, food trucks and entertainment from Southbound Seventeen.
▪ “CULTURE: Oystering - A way of life” (Jan. 15) is from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Lady’s Island Oyster Co., known as the “Home of the Single Lady Oyster,” on Hutson Drive in Seabrook. Cost of attendance is $55 a person, which includes an oyster shucker, a dozen Single Lady oysters and a bowl of chili. Additional oysters will be available for purchase, and there will be a cash bar for beer and wine. Brother Tonic will be performing.
▪ “TRADITION: The way the locals do it!” (Jan. 16) will be from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Port Royal Community Beer Garden on the Sands Beach. Admission is $20 and includes an oyster shucker. Sea Eagle Market will offer an “authentic oyster roast” by the bucket, and fried food will be available a la carte. Of course, there also will be local craft beer, and the Cluster Shucks are performing.
COVID-19 precautions include pre-registration and limited tickets for specific events. The City of Beaufort, Town of Port Royal and parts of unincorporated Beaufort County where events will take place are all under mandatory face mask ordinances.
Tickets for the mini events may be purchased online in advance at eventbrite.com.
