The 68th Urbanna Oyster Festival is set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7 and 8, and once again the event promises good times, delicious food, two parades, live music on three stages, historic buyboats, tall ships, crowning of the Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat, the Virginia Oyster Shucking Contest and more. Admission is free; however, parking is $20, which offsets festival expenses and contributes to the programs of the Urbanna Oyster Festival Foundation.
Watch for the special section in the Nov. 6 print edition of the Southside Sentinel and online later at SSentinel.com for all the details on the festival.
Parades
The annual Fireman’s Parade is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, and the Urbanna Oyster Festival Parade is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8.
The Fireman’s Parade will wind its way through town, while the Oyster Festival Parade will bypass the main part of Virginia Street. Both parades will assemble on the west side of town.
The Fireman’s Parade will feature 60 fire and rescue units, queens and dignitaries. It is sponsored by the Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) of Urbanna.
The Fireman’s Dance follows the parade on the Urbanna firehouse grounds at 330 Virginia St. from 8 p.m. to midnight with the band “The Unusual Suspects” (beer garden gates open at noon on Friday). The dance is sponsored by Mike’s Custom Golf Carts with Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Devils Backbone beers being served.
Saturday’s Oyster Festival Parade will have about 40 units, leading off with our honorees, grand marshals and captain, and queens and spats. And, about five or six high school bands will be marching in the parade. The Oyster Festival Parade’s special features this year include: a “Fort Eustis Color Guard, Order of the Oyster, Virginia Cardinals Cheer and Dance Team, Norfolk Khedive Shriners and special surprises!
Festival Queen
The 2025 Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat will be crowned Friday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m. inside the Urbanna firehouse at 330 Virginia St. As the Oyster Festival has evolved over the years, so has the selection of the Queen and Little Miss Spat (a spat is a baby oyster). What was once a beauty pageant is now a scholarship-based competition for the queens. The queen contestants must be high school seniors and residents of Middlesex County. Each queen contestant mentors a first grade contestant as her Little Miss Spat.
The foundation of this competition is character building and community service. Each queen contestant must volunteer a minimum of 25 hours benefiting Middlesex County.
The Queen and Little Miss Spat competition starts early in the spring and extends until the crowning.
This year there are seven queen hopefuls and eight Little Miss Spat contestants.
The 2025 Queen contestants and their Little Miss Spat contestants, in alphabetical order, include:
- Lorelei Cooke and Emersyn Soles.
- Elisabeth Gobush and Charlotte (Charlee) Parsley.
- Macon Kissman and Camdyn Putney.
- Cara Moss and Sawyer Edwards.
- Taylor Newman and Marilyn Major.
- Kallie Robins, Blakelee Anderson and Blakelynn Moore.
- Ashlynn Sears and Skyler Epperly.
The Queen contestants are judged in five areas:
- Individual community service project.
- Individual judges’ interview.
- Academic achievement.
- A written response to a random question.
- Overall participation in the competition.
The Little Miss Spat contestants are judged separately from the Queens in the following areas:
- Participation at an ice cream social and a tea party
- Individual judges’ interview
- Overall participation
History
Urbanna Museum and the historic James Mills Scottish Factor Store (formerly called the Old Tobacco Warehouse), which houses the Urbanna Museum and Visitor’s Center on Virginia Street just up the hill from Urbanna Creek, will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. both days of the festival. Go inside and see the rare John Mitchell Map, which is a first edition, third impression that was published in 1755. This map was used to define the boundaries of America following the Revolutionary War. Find out the exciting history of why Urbanna has this priceless map!
Robert Keyes, a multi-faceted solo finger-style guitarist, will perform on the front porch both days.
Community Row
The museum porch overlooks “Community Row,” sponsored by Primis Bank, that will feature crafts, demonstrations and exhibits from Middlesex artists and local nonprofit groups. The size of Community Row has been reduced due to vehicle access requirements and the vendors will be on Virginia Street closer to Cross Street.
Food and crafts
More than 100 vendors will be open for business when the festival begins at 10 a.m. on Friday and goes until midnight with the dance at the Urbanna firehouse, and on Saturday the festival runs from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Bring your appetite. An array of foods will be available from more than 30 food vendors. The honored oyster is always featured in a variety of presentations — raw, roasted, fried, steamed and stewed. The famous Middlesex Lions Club oyster fritters return this year at their same location on Virginia Street near the intersection with Rappahannock Avenue.
In addition, visitors can enjoy crab soup, crab bisque, 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.
In addition to great food and desserts, visitors will delight in the variety of crafts available throughout town. Among the many offerings will be stained glass, wood carvings, sculpture, pottery, dolls, brass, silver, leather goods and jewelry. Many craft vendors will be in Taber Park on Rappahannock Avenue at Festival Village.
VIP Oyster Lovers
The VIP Oyster Lovers Experience returns for its sixth year and has sold out for both days. Historic Lansdowne at 271 Virginia St. will be the setting for the VIP event and check-in.
Included for VIPs are exclusive VIP tables and seating, support from a festival concierge to help navigate the event, private restroom facilities, bottled water, discounts at local businesses from November 2025 to April 2026, VIP seating at the Virginia Oyster Shucking Contest on Saturday, Nov. 8, a 2025 Urbanna Oyster Festival commemorative poster, six wine tastings, six beer tastings, six oyster tastings, and a gift swag bag.
Plan ahead for 2026 (Nov. 6 and 7) and find VIP ticket information at www.urbannaoysterfestival.com. VIPs must be 21 years or older to purchase a ticket. An ID will be required.
Waterfront
Two water taxis will operate from the Urbanna Town Marina on both Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. They will transport visitors to and from their boats anchored in the harbor. Boat tours of the creek also will be available.
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. Since its days as a crucial colonial port, Urbanna’s waterfront has always been an essential part of town life. In its recent past, its docks were filled with Chesapeake Bay buyboats and deadrise workboats as watermen bought and sold oysters and crabs they had harvested.
During the Oyster Festival, history comes alive at the waterfront. Festival-goers are welcome to board the Lynx, a replica of a privateer inspired by the original historic tall ship from the War of 1812.
Other boats that will be open for tours include 100-year-old buyboats F.D. Crockett and Peggy; along with Explorer, a replica of the boat used by Captain John Smith to explore Chesapeake Bay in 1608. The Crockett and Peggy are based at the Deltaville Maritime Museum.
Also on display will be the sloop Luna, a replica of an 18th century sailing cargo vessel, built by the Colonial Seaport Foundation based in Deltaville.
Waterfront activities
The waterfront area of the festival provides opportunities for visitors to look at the beautiful Urbanna Town Marina and harbor, learn about the marine life of the Chesapeake Bay region, and listen to live music. Come to the waterfront to climb aboard a historic boat, examine marine creatures in touch tanks, and taste some local seafood.
Highlights for this year’s waterfront include:
- A variety of hands-on exhibits from the Yorktown Watermen’s Museum, the Fairfield Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School, Friends of the Rappahannock, Christchurch School, and the Tidewater Soil and Water Conservation District.
- Music and refreshments.
Oyster shucking contest
The Virginia State Official Oyster Shucking Contest, sponsored by Walton Seafood, Tony Walton Seafood and T.M. Williams and Son Seafood, will start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, on the stage in the field behind the Urbanna firehouse. Since Urbanna is the home of Virginia’s “official” Oyster Festival, it is only appropriate that some of the best oyster shuckers in the world practice their trade near the town. The top professional shucker in the contest wins $300. The first place prize in each of the men’s and women’s divisions is $100; second, $50; and third, $25.
The winner is declared state champion and advances to compete in the National Oyster Shucking Contest in St. Mary’s County, Md., in October 2026.
There will be an amateur shucking competition with a plaque for the winner, and an official festival poster for second and third place finishers. Registration begins at 9 a.m. behind the firehouse. Multi-time state champion Deborah Pratt is expected to return to defend her honor.
Wine tasting
Returning this year is wine tasting featuring several Virginia wineries. The wine tasting area at Historic Lansdowne on Virginia Street will be from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on both days of the festival. There is a $20 admission fee.
Oysters will be available for tasting from Aylett Country Day School, Middlesex County Kiwanis Club and Tidewater Oysters at the waterfront, pairing them with local wines from 7 Lady Vineyards, Jolene Family Winery, Mattaponi Winery, Wind Vineyards and Zoll Vineyards.
The craft beer tasting event will be at the far end of Festival Village. Craft beers include:
- Bold Rock
- New Realm
- Midnight
- That Damn Mary
- Devils Backbone
- Hardywood
- Landshark
The $15 admission includes a souvenir cup and four tastings. Brewery reps will be on hand to answer questions.
Fun for children at The Children’s Activity Village sponsored by Wildings Playscapes and Atlantic Union Bank – a nature-inspired play area for children and families will be available in the children’s activity area in Festival Village on Rappahannock Avenue, where children ages 4-10 will get creative. Hands-on crafts available for children include: Corn Sensory Play area, Mud Kitchen Play Area, Oyster Shell Painting, Performance Area entertainment, Hunter Rhodes Magic and Barefoot Puppets just to name a few fun-filled activities.
Master magician-juggler Jonathan Austin will wow the crowd with his high energy and mesmerizing acts in the children’s area on Friday from 10 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 4 p.m. A carnival and midway presented by R.T. Carnival and Amusements will be at The Kids Zone featuring rides, an assortment of bounce houses, the Rock and Roll, the Whirlybird, the Tumble Weed and other surprises. For a one-time fee of $20 children can ride all day. Or purchase a wristband for $15 for 15 tickets. Purchased separately each ticket is $1.25. Each ride takes multiple tickets. Game Trailers are cash only, please no big bills. Amusements take cash or credit cards for wristbands and tickets.
(See the special preview section coming out in the Nov. 6 print edition and online edition of the Southside Sentinel later for all the details on the 2025 Urbanna Oyster Festival.)
