The Narooma Oyster Festival might not be going ahead as planned next weekend due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the oysters are plentiful, and the event organisers have some surprises lined up for Festival fans.
To celebrate what would have been the Festival weekend, fans are encouraged to buy NSW South Coast oysters from their favourite local oyster farmer to enjoy at home while watching a special documentary featuring Paul West.
Above: Greg Carton and Sue McIntyre from Broadwater Oysters on Pambula Lake with Paul West.
“The oysters are delicious this year – creamy, plump and there are plenty of them. They certainly didn’t get the memo that the Festival has been postponed to next year,” said Narooma Oyster Festival Chair Cath Peachey.
“We want people to enjoy oysters at home this year as if they were at the Festival experiencing Oyster Ally. It’s a way we can get behind our oyster farmers and mark what would have been the 2020 Festival,’ said Ms Peachey.
While enjoying local rock oysters at home, fans can view the Narooma Oyster Festival documentary online for free. The documentary features host Paul West visiting oyster farmers from NSW South Coast estuaries Clyde River, Wagonga Inlet, Pambula Lake and Merimbula.
“The Far South Coast is one of Australia’s most magnificent landscapes with an abundance of tidal lakes and estuaries, each of which produces a unique expression of the rock oyster. In collaboration with the Narooma Oyster Festival, we shot a short documentary visiting four key waterways in a seaplane to pull oysters straight out of the water and taste the difference firsthand,” said celebrity chef and documentary host Paul West.
For suggestions where to purchase oysters, visit the Festival website
www.naroomaoysterfestival.com for a list of farmers selling their NSW South Coast oysters to the public.
The documentary will be released on Saturday 2 May.
The link will be available on the Festival’s website and official social media pages.
The trailer was released online today.
The Narooma Oyster Festival will be back in 2021 – with the Community Night and Long Table Dinner taking place on Friday, 30 April and the main event happening on Saturday, 1 May 2021.
The support for the Festival is stronger than ever with Festival partners Australia’s Oyster Coast, Eurobodalla Shire Council, Club Narooma, Whale Coast Realty and Southern Phone Company supporting the vision of the Festival board to position the NSW South Coast as a foodie destination and Narooma as the rock oyster capital.
“Our partners have been amazing – their local leadership this year has kept us in business with a keen eye to the future,” said Ms Peachey.
“A massive thank you also to our Festival visitors, many of whom have transferred their accommodation bookings to the 2021 date. It is a terrific show of commitment and recognises all the work our volunteers, stallholders, partners and event team put into the 2020 Festival.
“I’ll be kicking back at home with Wagonga Inlet rock oysters watching the documentary on 2 May. I hope you do too.”
