Huge Summer Festival Does It All In One Day

Summer festivals and events scattered around the United States feature a variety of themes. At one event or another, there is surely something for everyone. It’s just a matter of finding one that suits our interests and getting there. Some are small, local events with a focus on interests shared by friends and neighbors. Larger, regional offerings have a more broad appeal with a national focus – like oysters.

The Milford Oyster Festival is an annual cultural festival held on the third Saturday of August throughout the city of Milford, Connecticut. Commonly called Oysterfest, the 39 year-old event is the largest, free, single-day attraction in Connecticut, often drawing over 50,000 visitors.

Held on August 17, rain or shine, this year’s Oysterfest features ’80s rock band Blues Traveler as the event headliner. At many summer festivals, the musical acts are the main draw. Not so at Oysterfest, which also features hundreds of arts and crafts vendors, amusement rides, schooner cruises, a canoe and kayak race, food court, children’s stage, martial arts demonstrations and more.Insiders start the night before on the Oyster Eve kickoff event, this year featuring Key West’s Jimmy and the Parrots, one of the nation’s foremost “Buffet Bands” and the 2012 Trop Rock Entertainer of the Year.

Oh, and oysters? The East Coast Shellfish Growers Association will serve up over 20,000 of them, also recycling the shells to seed oyster beds.