Thousands expected Nov. 1 and 2 for 67th Urbanna Oyster Festival

The 67th Urbanna Oyster Festival is set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2, and once again the event promises good times, delicious food, two parades, live music on three stages, historic buyboats, 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.

Parades

The annual Fireman’s Parade is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, and the Urbanna Oyster Festival Parade is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.

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 Official Oyster Festival Parade’s special features this year include: TRADOC (United States Army Training and Doctrine Command) Army Marching Band from Fort Eustis, StepUp Horses, Norfolk Khedive Shriners and special surprises!

Festival Queen

The 2024 Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat will be crowned Friday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m. inside the Urbanna firehouse at 335 Virginia St. 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 2024 Queen contestants and their Little Miss Spat contestants include:

• Hailey Bruce and Leah Fuccella
• Anna Crown and spats Holden Sweeden and Charlee O’Bryan  
• Elena Fomin and Josie Anton
• Zikirah Morris and Felicity Acevedo
• Kayleigh Moye and Rosie Robertson
• Karli Parker and Monroe Hudnall
• Cheyenne Sears and Scarlett Ebinger

Community Row

The museum porch overlooks “Community Row,” sponsored by Primis Bank, which will be on Virginia Street between Cross Street and the waterfront. Community Row will feature crafts, demonstrations and exhibits from Middlesex artists and local nonprofit groups.

There will not be a car show this year, as there was in the past.

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 its same location on Virginia Street near the intersection with Rappahannock Avenue.

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.

During the Oyster Festival, history comes alive at the waterfront. Festival-goers are welcome to board Godspeed, a replica of one of the three ships of the 1606–1607 voyage to the New World for the English Virginia Company of London which resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia.

Other boats that will be open for tours include F.D. Crockett, a 100-year-old buyboat, and Explorer, a replica of the boat used by Captain John Smith to explore Chesapeake Bay in 1608. Both 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, T.M. Williams and Son Seafood and Urbanna Seafood and Raw Bar, will start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, on 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 2025.

There will be an amateur shucking competition with a plaque for the winner, and an official Oyster 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.

Fun for children

The Children’s Activity Village sponsored by Wildings Playscapes – a nature inspired play area for children and families will be available in the children’s activity area in Festival Village, 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, Storytime and Crafts presented by Nan Carlton, 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. 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.

(See the special preview section next week for all the details on the 2024 Urbanna Oyster Festival!)