P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival returns for 25th year

Excitement and the smell of fresh seafood are in the air this weekend. After a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, a popular seafood festival has returned to the Charlottetown waterfront. The Prince Edward Island International Shellfish Festival is back.

It features four days of fresh seafood from across the island, local music, and international chefs competing to see who’s the best of the best in shellfish.

The $10,000 final was Sunday. Carmen Ingham from British Colombia took second.

“It feels amazing,” said Ingham just after the competition ended. “I’ve done a few competitions in the past, but it was six years ago -- the most recent one, so it’s great to dust off the competition gear and get out here again.”

Sunday was an important day in any shellfish lover’s calendar. Tickets for the festival’s all-you-can-eat oyster event, Feast and Frolic, were gone within 48 hours.

Chris Steves got hers. She came all the way from Ontario.

“And then when the tickets came on, online at midnight, I booked tickets and I said to my husband, ‘what tickets shall we get?’” said Steves. “He said get everything, so we did.”

This is the 25th festival, but its 27th year. The event was cancelled for the last two years as organizers grappled with uncertainty and COVID-19 restrictions.

“Just the feeling of seeing people having a good time, having these chefs back out here, showing their great talent they have, people having a great time partying,” said Liam Dolan, founder and organizer. “It’s been a while since we had 3,000 people together around Charlottetown.”

Dolan founded the festival in 1996 and has chaired the organizing committee since.

“Seeing what this has come to, from a little festival that started with about 200 people 27 years ago,” said Dolan. “To be able to stand on the stage and look out and see over 3,000 people in the tent, it was fantastic.”

Dolan said when he started the festival, everyone told him it was crazy, but to him, it was a no-brainer.

“We have the best seafood in the world. We have the best shellfish as far as I’m concerned,” said Dolan. “Nobody was telling the story, so I believed you can create a festival about it and tell the story.”

It’s estimated, over the weekend, nearly 10,000 visitors came through the doors to get a taste.