A record-breaking crowd of 150,000 gathered in Oyster Bay this weekend for the town’s annual Oyster Festival, the largest seafood festival in the North East, town officials said.
“It’s actually become one of the largest seafood festivals, now, in the country,” Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said. “We had over 150,000 people.”
The 41st annual festival was held in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
“Over this extremely successful weekend, so many visitors–record-breaking numbers of visitors–gathered here in the harbor, in the park and along the roads here in Oyster Bay for Oyster Fest 2024,” Saladino said.
This is the first year the town has taken over the annual festival, partnering with the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Chamber of Commerce.
Saladino said the town was “putting the local oyster back in Oyster Fest.”
He said over a dozen local harvesters and farmers participated in the fair.
The festival features live music, games, carnival rides and oyster shucking and eating competitions.
Shops and vendors opened along Audrey Avenue for attendees to enjoy on their way to the park. Additional vendors, food trucks, carnival rides and live music were located at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park.
Approximately 150 artisans displayed handmade goods and foods at the Arts & Crafts Pavillion, which marked a great expansion to the pavilion from previous years.
The event features seafood dishes like lobster rolls, chowders and oysters served raw, on the half shell and fried.
In addition to seafood specials, festival-goers enjoyed dozens of different vendors and restaurants in the food court.
Proceeds from the event were donated to the Boys & Girls Club, Saladino said. The Boys & Girls Club provides children with enriching programs and mentorship opportunities.
The town will dispose all clam and oyster shells back into the harbor to create a sustainable ecosystem, Saladino said.
“Over the weekend, thousands of clams and oysters were enjoyed,” Saladino said. “And thanks to our recycling program, these shells won’t go to waste,” he said.
He said the shells will be “cleaned, cured and put back into our local waters to protect our ecosystem.”
This marks the third year of the town’s shell recycling program.
The town’s slogan for the program is: “When you shuck it, don’t chuck it. Put it in the bucket.”
The program collects shells from restaurants year-round. Oyster Fest was the largest collection site of the year.
83 volunteers collected four tons of shells at this year’s festival. This year’s shell collection is 25% percent higher than last year’s, Saladino said.
“We collected more shells in one weekend than we collect from the restaurants for an entire year,” Saladino said.
He said the shells provide a hard surface that helps protect seeds.
Saladino said the town adds millions of clam and oyster seeds to the harbor each year in addition to the shell collection program.
Programs like this make the Town of Oyster Bay “one of the most environmentally conscious municipalities in all of the state and certainly Long Island,” he said.
Saladino said the event successfully brought the community together and helped the local environment.
“Not only was the event a tremendous success,” Saladino said. “It was tremendously successful beyond just the weekend because we love our environment. We protect our environment.”
