Of course you enjoyed the shrimp, but there’s more to the Beaufort Shrimp Festival than tasty seafood

Celebrations of the local Lowcountry shrimping industry at Friday night’s 22nd annual Beaufort Shrimp Festival continued Saturday at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park for visitors and locals alike.

The morning kicked off with the Run, Forrest, Run 5K Bridge Run/Walk and the day continued with live music, a shrimp cook-off between 14 local restaurants, a shrimp peeling contest, a shrimp de-heading contest and the Sea Island Rotary Club’s annual charity shrimp race in the Beaufort River, according to the festival’s event manager, LaNelle Fabian.

Fabian said the festival is all about coming together as a community to support local businesses and shrimpers.

“People know they should eat locally, obviously, if they’re here and I’m sure — if you gave them their choice — they would pick local,” she said. “We’re just trying to get people to eat local and support their family and their neighbors.”

But Fabian won’t have to do much convincing; she said event organizers expected more than 7,000 visitors Saturday and the local shrimp is better in taste than those from other areas.

David Henderson, a Beaufort resident, said he attended the festival after a friend convinced him to go. He said even if someone isn’t a big fan of shrimp, there was still live music, drinks and supporting the community.

“(Beaufort is) pretty close-knit,” he said. “A lot more close-knit than my home town.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Of course you enjoyed the shrimp, but there’s more to the Beaufort Shrimp Festival than tasty seafood."