Oyster Bay's Oyster Festival Returns After 2-Year Break, To A Buzz

OYSTER BAY, NY?Oyster Bay's Oyster Festival is one of Long Island's most iconic fall fairs, and this year is gearing up to be bigger than ever, organizers say, since the festival is coming back from a two-year hiatus.

This year's Oyster Festival, the 39th year the event will take place, is planned for October 15 and 16, at Theodore Roosevelt Park, Oyster Bay's waterfront park.

"People are calling me non-stop," Kerry Gillick-Goldberg, who manages the public relations for the festival, told Patch. After a two-year break due to the pandemic, she says, people are excited for "a little bit of normalcy."

"They are excited to see their friends, and get outside."

In a typical year Gillick-Goldberg says the fair draws 150,000 attendees over two days. The festival is the second biggest on Long Island all year, only eclipsed by the Jones Beach Memorial Day air show.

The biggest draw of Oyster Fest is always the food, Gillick-Goldberg said.

"This year we will have tons of new food," with vendors selling everything from, of course, oysters, to seafood dishes and traditional festival eats.

There will be new DJs playing music, an arts and crafts tent and a beer garden.

Gillick-Goldberg explained that the event is at its core a fundraising event: all the proceeds support local Oyster Bay nonprofits, and all the food vendors partnering with local organizations keep 100 percent of their sales to donate to the participating nonprofit.

The fair is such a tradition, Gillick-Goldberg says, that many former Long Islanders time a return home to coincide with the Oyster Festival weekend.

The Oyster Festival is free to attend and runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Visitors can arrive by car, train or even boat.