In a break with tradition however, there will be a new format for this year’s Galway Oyster Festival, with the familiar sight of the festival marquee absent from the Claddagh later this month.
“The Oyster festival was set up in 1954 to extend the summer tourist season into September, with black tie balls in big hotels and tents for certain guests, but those days are gone, and the hotels are all full anyway,” says Galway City Council’s tourism committee chair, Councillor Níall McNelis.
“Tourism is here all-year round. €49 million was spent on oysters in Ireland last year, and we’re going to have 60,000 Americans landing into Ireland that week for the [Minnesota Vikings v Pittsburgh Steelers] football game when our city should be open to all-comers to sample the shellfish, and the craic.”
Now in its 71st year, the Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival will return from Sunday, September 21, to September 28, in a new, citywide format, incorporating The Docklands Festival which celebrates Galway’s maritime heritage and future.
The Oyster Festival was voted one of the top summer food festivals in Europe this year, second only to the annual Sardine Festival in Portimão, Portugal, based on a survey of 25 destinations by editors and readers of Big 7, a travel media aggregator.
Galway city is expected to come alive during the week-long event, reaching a high point on Saturday, September 27, with the World Oyster Opening Championship in the King’s Head, when competitors from 18 countries will compete for the international shucking crown.
There will be traditional Galway hooker racing, guided visits to Galway Bay’s oyster farms, the Burren and Conamara, a parade, street food, live music, a number of talks from boatbuilding to aquaculture, and a continuation of the summer pedestrianised zones across the city centre.
Most events are free, with some ticketed.
