Arcata Main Street's 21st Annual Oyster Festival
June 18, 2011
Join us for a day of food, fun, music and frolic...
On the Arcata Plaza
"It's not just a festival, it's a religion."
Get ready to shuck and swallow at the 21st annual Arcata Main Street's
Oyster Festival from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on June 18, 2011 at the Arcata
Plaza. The Oyster Festival highlights and celebrates the plump and sweet
Kumamoto oyster from Humboldt and Arcata bays by pairing of all-you-can-eat
barbecued oysters and award-winning, local microbrews from Lost Coast
Brewing Company and Mad River Brewing Company.
In addition to the grilled mollusks and frosty beverages, the event also
features performances by S.F. old-school funk band Vinyl; Humboldt's own Tom
Petty tribute band, Full Moon Fever; and local reggae-roots band Woven
Roots. If that's not enough to draw you to the historic plaza on June 18,
the festival will also feature a rock-climbing wall and mechanical bull from
North Coast Adventure Centers and will be located in the Pacific Outfitters
parking lot.
In between the eating, drinking and slurping, KWPT 100.3 FM &102.7 FM "The
Point" presents a Shuck & Swallow competition, where four-time defending
champions Aidan Semingson (the shucker) and Conor Eckholm (the swallower)
try to win their fourth-straight gold Shuck & Swallow belt. This dream team
can shuck and eat more than 35 raw oysters in five minutes and is looking
for some suitable challengers this year.
The event also features the Oyster Calling contest hosted by one of the most
familiar faces in Humboldt County television, Dave Silverbrand. Participants
try to yell out what an oyster call would sound like if the oyster were to
ask all his friends to join him at the Oyster Festival. There's also an
oyster-food judging contest where the winners will receive a special award
from recycled glass makers Fire & Light. A panel of hand-picked judges will
get a chance to taste all the raw oyster entries on Friday night, before the
festival at Jacoby's Storehouse. This year, the raw oyster champions will be
announced at 12:30 p.m., so event goers will be able to try these
award-winning oysters during the festival.
If you're bringing the whole family, a play area for the kids will be
between Eighth and F & G streets. We'll have waxtivities, balloon making and
Shantaram the magician.
The musical entertainment kicks off at 11 a.m. with Woven Roots, followed by
Full Moon Fever at 1 p.m., then ends in a bang with Vinyl at 3:30 p.m. If
oysters and beer is not your style, then a variety of alternative cuisine
choices and wine will be available - everything from the premium wine sold
at the Libation booth to the chicken wings from Calhoun's Original South
Side Bar-B-Que to hot dogs and fish tacos.
Festival officials ask that you pay special attention to the recycling and
trash bins throughout the event as almost every product at the festival will
be recycled, recyclable or properly disposed of by the North Coast Resource
Center. Your recycled oyster shells will be donated to the local fish
hatcheries to help them with their aquaculture projects.
The Oyster Festival begins at 10 a.m. and the evening will conclude at 5:30
p.m. All ages are welcome and all adults wishing to buy alcohol must produce
and show current I.D. Non-refundable $6 beer tokens and $3 I.D. wristbands
can be purchased at the corner booths at the Plaza.
All the funds raised at this special event - from the beer tokens to the
booth fees to the wristbands - will support Arcata Main Street's non-profit,
artistic events like Arts! Arcata, Concerts on the Plaza, Trick or Treat
Around the Plaza, Season of Wonder & Light and many other organizational
programs that foster a sense of pride and community in downtown Arcata. Your
generous donations will keep Arcata Main Street and the Oyster Festival
alive!
Self-described 21st century California Regionalist painter, Beverly Harper
generously offered to design this year's colorful Oyster Festival poster and
save the date cards. You may have seen her oil on canvas, landscape of the
Arcata Plaza circulating around town. Mrs. Harper works from her studio in
Trinidad and also from her country home in Freshwater. She graduated from
Chico State University with a BFA degree and her work is featured at
Meridian Fine Art in Arcata.
If festival goes wish to avoid the long beer lines throughout the day and
also wish to make a more sizeable donation to Arcata Main Street, AMS will
be selling a Front of the Line Pass for $20 at the AMS offices located in
Jacoby's Storehouse and at the Oyster Festival Ball. The $20 will support
future Arcata Main Street programs like Picnics on the Plaza and you'll be
able to get your beer on before anyone else.
New to this year's event, the Oyster Festival Ball and Fundraiser will take
place on Friday, June 17th at 7 p.m. in Jacoby's Storehouse Plaza View Room
on the third floor. This event is open to the public for $15 and there will
be appetizers, beverages and live music from the good vibes, acoustic,
coastal-rock band, Headshine. You'll also have a chance to buy an official
Oyster Festival T-shirt and a Front of the Line pass before the big day.
So, come down to the Plaza on June 18 and join us in our quest to consume
thousands of oysters while doing some good at the 21st annual Oyster
Festival put on by Arcata Main Street.
Parking & Shuttles
Don't want to park in downtown Arcata? Use our free park and ride spots! In our continuing efforts to provide convenience to our patrons and alleviate negative impacts, the festival will be providing off-site parking and free shuttle bus service for the event.
Parking Lots are available at:
Arcata High School at 1720 M St.
HSU at 14th and Union
Samoa Boulevard 2 blocks west of K Street
Shuttle busses will run every 10-15 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 pm
For more information, email Larry Pardi at lpardi@cityofarcata.org
2011 Music Line-up and schedule of events
10am – DJ Stir Fry Willie and Announcements
10:30am – The Point's Shuck & Swallow Contest
11am – Woven Roots (Humboldt Reggae Band)
12:30pm – Best Oyster Winners Announced
1pm – Full Moon Fever (Tom Petty Tribute Band)
2:30pm – Oyster Calling Contest hosted by Dave Silverbrand
3:30pm – Vinyl (Old-School Funk Band from S.F.)
4:30pm – Last Call For Alcohol (Wine & Beer).
