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Families are invited to enjoy an afternoon of jazz, dance and entertainment at the Oyster Festival marquee on Sunday from 1pm to 5pm.

Entries are now being accepted for the ‘Galway Shop Window of the Festival 2008’ as part of the 54th Galway International Oyster Festival.

There’ll be an R in the month until next April, which for aficionados of oysters can only mean one thing: these delicacies will be available for the next seven months. Jonathan Swift is often quoted as having said, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster”, and many of us would rather chew the head off a dead rat than let these glutinous, muscly, sea water-scented little shellfish anywhere near our dinner plate, but some view them as a delicacy on a par with caviar and champagne. Slurped straight off the half shell, either just as they are or enlivened with a dash of Tabasco or lemon juice, or cooked in a fish stew or a steak and kidney pie, and washed down with a pint of creamy Guinness or a glass of white wine or champagne, the oyster occupies a unique place in European, American and Asian cuisine.

The face of this year’s Galway International Oyster Festival will be selected on September 11 at a glittering gala banquet to be held in tTe Ardilaun Hotel.

It is no secret that Abalone restaurant in Dominick Street is one of my favourite restaurants, so I was very happy to accept an invitation from the chef proprietor, Alan Williams, to taste his first ever delivery of fresh abalone. What makes this fresh abalone really special is that it is 100 per cent Irish produced. It comes from Cape Clear, and if you are an avid watcher of RTE you may have seen a documentary showing how the owner Martin O’Mealoid was bringing his live abalone to the kitchens of two of the most famous eateries in London, The Dorchester and that coolest of cool sushi restaurant, Nobu.

During the summer of 2008, Conlon’s Seafood Restaurant moved to its new premises, a few doors away in Eglinton Street. As you enter the new restaurant, there is a gorgeous art deco feel and the off white decor and furnishings add to a sense of openness. They have several different menus, a great value lunch menu offering a choice of five or six main courses for €9.90, eg, seafood risotto with salad and garlic bread, grilled fresh plaice with creamed potato and vegetable, and good old fashioned fish and chips.

The 2009 Clarenbridge Oyster Festival will take place on September 11-13 this year and plans for the event are going full steam ahead.

Martina Mc Grath, a native of Clarenbridge and an NUIG science student has been selected as the 2009 Clarenbridge Oyster Festival Queen. A keen sportsperson, Martina plays camogie for Clarenbridge and is the daughter of Billy and Marion McGrath of Moyvilla.

The first Oyster Festival was in 1954 with just 34 people in attendance, and since such humble beginnings the Clarenbridge Oyster Festival has hosted many national and international visitors and contributed enormously to the development of the tourist trade in the region. September 1 is the start of the oyster season and opens with oyster lovers heading for Clarenbridge which is now officially recognised as the ‘Home of the Oyster’.

Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker will be the guest of honour at this year’s Galway International Oyster Festival.