Nantucket Oysterfest

Photos by Bill Hoenk

Sunday was a special day for oyster lovers. It marked the return of the Nantucket Oysterfest, an annual festival held by the Nantucket Land Council and Nantucket Shellfish Association.

The festival celebrates Nantucket oysters—one of the finest delicacies the island has to offer—but, more importantly, it recognizes the year-round work of Nantucket Land Council and Nantucket Shellfish Association. Both organizations are 501(c)(3) nonprofits dedicated to protecting and preserving the island’s pristine natural setting and rural character. The Nantucket Shellfish Association focuses its time and energy specifically on the shellfishing industry; it “encourages research and education for the conservation and enhancement of shellfish populations in the waters of Nantucket Island.”

The event drew a crowd that filled Cisco Brewers, and featured live music, food trucks, catering by Triple Eight cocktails, a raffle, and, of course, a boatload of delicious oysters, grown by local farmers in the island’s five oyster farms.

The oysters were juicy, salty, fresh, and clearly enjoyed by attendees. Some ate them plain, while others added to them a squirt of lemon juice, Tabasco, or cocktail sauce. The centerpiece of the afternoon was the oyster-shucking competition, as men and women hunkered down with their oyster knives and shucked like they never shucked before.

Oyster shucking tables were scattered across Cisco Brewers, each equipped with its own team of shuckers. The shuckers played perhaps the most important role of the afternoon. With sometimes as many as three or four per station, they needed to work quickly in order to accommodate the long lines of hungry guests. Local oyster growers were also in attendance, and deserve similar recognition; without their hard work, there would be no oysters to eat in the first place.