Description
Festivals in Kent include the annual Whitstable Oyster Rocks Festival which celebrates tradition, fun, and flavour as Whitstable honours its historic and cultural connection with oysters. There are competitions, ice cream-making workshops, mud tug, private pottery sculpture sessions, kiteflying, a parrot treasure hunt, oyster farm tours, oyster beach games, chalk arts, and lots more fun activities. There will be stalls, and live music and don't miss the Landing and Blessing of the Oysters. A procession heads to one of the main venues, East Quay led by samba band, Samba Pelo Mar, for feasting and celebrations, with other activities at Long Beach during the festival.
A Little History
Whitstable’s oyster festival traditions stretch back to the Roman Empire when Julius Caesar’s soldiers developed a taste for Kentish oysters. The town’s oyster heritage was further celebrated in Norman times, with fishermen feasting in the name of St. James of Compostela, the unofficial patron saint of oysters. The festival was revived in the 1980s.
Price
Free and ticketed events.
Runtime
13th to 15th September 2024
Some events TBC - times are provisional on our calendar.
For more festivals in Kent see our round-up here.
Picture Credit: © Whitstable Oyster Rocks Festival.
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