The 22nd annual Pemaquid Oyster Festival returns to Mine Oyster Restaurant in downtown Boothbay Harbor on Sunday, Sept. 28. (Courtesy photo)
The 22nd annual Pemaquid Oyster Festival returns to Mine Oyster Restaurant in downtown Boothbay Harbor on Sunday, Sept. 28. The festival features freshly shucked oysters from 10 Damariscotta River farms, live music, an oyster-shucking contest and an exhibition tent.
The Damariscotta River is often called “the Napa Valley of oysters,” and its warm, nutrient-rich, clean, high-salinity waters produce some of the world’s finest oysters.
The Pemaquid Oyster Co. will be joined by fellow Damariscotta River growers: Mook Sea Farm, Norumbega Oyster Inc., Dodge Cove Marine Farm, Glidden Point Oyster Farms, Blackstone Point Oysters, Pleasant Cove Oyster Farm, Heron Island Oyster Co., Great Salt Bay Oyster Co., and Carlisle Oyster Farm.
The festival provides an opportunity to sample oysters from these Damariscotta River farms and meet and talk with the growers who cultivate them.
Festival entertainment begins at noon and brings a variety of music to two stages, including the Hadacol Bouncers, a six-piece traditional New Orleans-style jazz band; Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection, featuring Maine’s own Allison Krauss backed by four of Maine’s best bluegrass pickers; the Old Blues Kats, the duo of veteran blues guitarist Doug Wainoris and blues harp and saxophonist D.W. Gill; and the Oystermen, with Maine traditional maritime musicians and oyster farmers Carter Newell, Eric Rolfson, and Smokey McKeen.
The oyster-shucking contest is a crowd favorite, bringing together some of New England’s leading oyster shuckers competing for time and quality for a $500 cash prize, including defending champions Chad Egeland from Scales Restaurant in Portland, Andy Rogers from Wiscasset’s Jolie Rodger’s Oyster Bar, and Brendan Parsons from Newcastle’s Shuck Station.
The exhibit tent will host local marine and educational organizations such as the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the Boothbay Sea and Science Center, Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, Mook Sea Farm, and Maine Sea Grant. The tent will also showcase area artists and artisans who produce seafood products and oyster art.
The festival is also featuring a silent auction, which is live online and will conclude at the festival at 2 p.m. The auction features donated art work, paintings, prints, photos, wood works, and ceramics, as well as gift certificates to local inns, restaurants and Midcoast attractions.
On Saturday, Sept. 27 there will also be a six-course oyster dinner with wine pairings curated by award-winning chef Ralph C. Smith at Mine Oyster Restaurant and Jim Elston, of Chemin des Vins wine importers, beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets for the dinner and general admission and VIP festival tickets can be purchased at pemaquidoysterfestival.com.
The Pemaquid Oyster Festival is the primary fundraiser for the Edward A. Myers Marine Conservation Fund. Ed Myers was a South Bristol resident, the first licensed shellfish-farmer in the state of Maine, and a mentor to many of the river’s early oyster growers. The fund has raised over $200,000 since its inception and has awarded grants to a dozen or more Lincoln County nonprofit groups.
For more information, go to pemaquidoysterfestival.com, the festival’s Instagram and Facebook pages, call or text 571-2366, or email coordinator@pemaquidoysterfestival.com.
