A highlight of Scottish foodie festivals, Stranraer Oyster Festival sees the best on Scottish produce on show
Seafood Festivals in Scotland? Here’s one of the best, running Friday 13 to Sunday of 15th September.
As the oyster season begins, the Stranraer Oyster Festival celebrates three days of our famous native shell fish. The festival has grown in strength and has thousands of attendees every year. The celebration puts our wild, native oysters at the forefront of the weekend and attracts many celebrity chefs.
The Menu
The event kicks off with a fairly grand appetiser. A light procession led by ‘The Vital Spark’ will culminate with fireworks over the loch. Over the three days, Michelin Green Star chef Pam Brunton will be discussing her new book ‘Between Two Waters’. Pam’s restaurant ‘Inver’ is the only Scottish restaurant to receive this accolade from Michelin, which is awarded for not only excellence in quality of food, but commitment to ecological ethics. Pam’s passion for sustainability is clear and she will be sharing her ‘pearls’ of wisdom at the festival.
Also cooking up a storm (let’s hope not!) is our very own Julie Lin of GaGa on Dumbarton Road. Julie also fronts Hot Woks on STV alongside her cheffing partner in crime Jimmy Lee. There might be some friendly competition, even a cook off, as the fabulous Spice Kings – Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala – will also be on the demo stage. These events are limited to ticket holders, so grab yours quick! Along with your ticket, you’ll receive a glass of Prosecco and canapés.
Other activities include, of course, partaking of a few oysters themselves. Whether with lemon, rock salt or a dash of tabasco, the Loch Ryan Oyster Fisheries team can advise. Why not try a spot of Extreme Pond Dipping thereafter? It’s far less scary than it sounds. And with the Scottish Oyster Shucking Championship up for grabs, the festival is as jam packed as a sustainably-managed oyster bed!
Caring for our Marine Habitat
Regeneration, the fragile eco-system and the environment is central to the event. Barely a stone’s throw from the festival site sits Loch Ryan, home to the native oyster beds at the forefront of the weekend’s gastronomy. They are one of the most important oyster beds in Europe and are part of a regeneration success story. Loch Ryan Oysters are sustainably managed, seeing 95% of each catch being returned to the beds. Stranraer itself has also gone through a community led regeneration. Changing the face of a once declining economy, the town has now hosted six of the annual festivals, ‘netting’ seven million pounds. And with the economic improvement being thanks to the fruit de la mer, the festival organisers are keen to ensure there is no negative environmental impact from the event. In fact the discarded shells from the 2023 festival were gathered and cleaned, and will be used as ‘cultch’ which is material for young oysters to stick to.
Bigger and Better
Romano Petrucci, Chair of Stranraer Development Trust, the organisation responsible for the oyster festival, says ‘We are so excited about the programme for Stranraer Oyster Festival this year. It’s immensely rich in talent, passion and inspiration, and strongly rooted in local place and local produce. Our vision each year has always been to make our next festival ‘bigger and better’. Our focus now is to concentrate on ‘better’ knowing that by doing so ‘bigger’ will follow.’
Keen to attend one of the best Seafood Festivals in Scotland?
Stranraer Oyster Festival
13-15th September
For information and tickets visit www.stranraeroysterfestival.com
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