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Welcome to the 52nd Urbanna Oyster Festival

The Urbanna Oyster Festival tradition, which was started by a dozen or so local merchants and “town fathers” in 1958, continues this Friday and Saturday, November 6-7.

The 52nd annual festival will once again provide good times and a variety of tasty food and lively music for the tens of thousands of expected festival-goers.

More than 100 vendors will be open for business when the festival officially begins on Friday at 10 a.m. On Saturday, the festival is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bring your appetite; an array of tasty items will be available from more than 50 food vendors. The honored oyster is always featured and in a variety of presentations—raw, roasted, fried, steamed, frittered and stewed.

In addition, visitors can enjoy crab soup, seafood chowder, clams, crab cakes, shrimp, fish, corn dogs, sausages, hamburgers, hot dogs, turkey legs, roast beef, funnel cakes, kettle corn, roasted nuts, ice cream, cotton candy, snow cones, candy apples and many other goodies.

This map shows the route of travel for the Fireman’s Parade at 7 p.m. on Friday and the 52nd Urbanna Oyster Festival Parade at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Visitors also will delight in the variety of crafts available throughout the town. Among the many offerings are handmade furniture, stained glass, woodcarvings, sculpture, pottery, dolls, brass, silver, leather goods and jewelry.

Not to be missed is Prince George Street’s Community Row with local crafts, demonstrations and exhibits.

The restored Old Tobacco Warehouse/Urbanna Visitor’s Center on Virginia Street, just up the hill from Urbanna Creek, will be open both days of the festival. Model boats and an original John Mitchell map of early colonial America will be on display within this historic building.

A variety of entertainment has been booked for the five stages for both Friday and Saturday. There will be live entertainment on stage at Festival Village, on the front porch of the Old Tobacco Warehouse, at the wine tasting garden next to the post office, at the waterfront, and behind the Urbanna Firehouse. (See schedule on pages 12-13.)

The Oyster Festival waterfront at the Urbanna Town Marina will showcase the area’s varied history and emphasize the conservation and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. Large boats will be open for tours and there will be numerous hands-on exhibits.

New this year to the Oyster Festival will be a wine-tasting event featuring several local Virginia wineries, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, artist Christopher Mize, and mood-inspiring music. The wine-tasting area will be open both days from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Virginia Street between the post office and ABC Store.

This is your guide to the festivities and it’s free! Click above to download it now.

There will be two beer gardens this year—at the Urbanna Firehouse and Chesapeake Commons on Virginia Street. Both locations will feature live music.

There will be two parades. The Fireman’s Parade, with about 50 units, is at 7 p.m. Friday, November 6; and the Oyster Festival Parade, with about 80 units, is at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 7.

The Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat will be crowned at 4 p.m. Friday, November 6, on the Festival Village stage on Rappahannock Ave.

The Virginia Oyster Shucking Contest will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday behind the firehouse.

Also available at http://www.SSentinel.com is the opportunity to download this commemorative guide to the 52nd Urbanna Oyster Festival as a pdf file! Just click on the Oyster Festival link on the left hand side of the home page.

Be sure to pick up next week’s issue (November 12) of the Sentinel for a report on this year’s festival, which will feature numerous color photos.

More photos and a video of the 2009 event will be posted at http://www.SSentinel.com early next week.

posted 11.03.2009