Need something to do this weekend? Beaufort’s annual Oyster Festival has you covered
The Beaufort Oyster Festival is back with live music, a cornhole tournament and 5K this week. Here’s what to know about the 11-day festival.
The third installment of the annual event, kick-starting “tides to tables” with S.C. Restaurant Week, began on Jan. 12 and will go until Sunday. Created by the Beaufort Area Hospitality Association in 2021, the festival began as a way to attract visitors to the area and teach them about the agri-tourism economy and the history behind the oystering culture in the Sea Islands, according to previous reporting from the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Admission is free, and the event opens again Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. after a VIP Sponsor Appreciation Event that is invite-only on Friday. Headlining Saturday is the 90s country band BlackHawk, which got its start in 1993. The band will play from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. Additional bands, including Beek Webb and the Sea Island Ramblers and Southbound 17, will play from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
For anyone looking to burn off the extra calories picked up at the festival, there will be an Oyster Boogie 5K Saturday in downtown Beaufort. The race, which benefits Riverview Charter School in Port Royal, begins on Bay Street and New Castle Street at 8 a.m. and offers cash prizes ranging from $100 to $50. Registration for the 5K ends on Jan. 20, 2023, at 5:59 p.m.
On Sunday, more music from the Blues Boys and the Fabulous Clams will be performed from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. A cornhole tournament will be held at the park at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Forecasts from the National Weather Service in Charleston for the weekend show that Friday will be mostly sunny with a high near 67 degrees. There is a 50% chance of showers Saturday with a high near 61 degrees during the day and a low of 49 at night. Rain is likely Sunday with a high near 63 degrees.
This story was originally published January 16, 2023 at 10:36 AM.
