For four days, Falmouth will come alive with fantastic food, live music, chef demonstrations, family activities, artisan market stalls and some of the festival’s best-loved traditions, including the Oyster Shucking Competition and Working Boat Race. Best of all, daytime entry to the festival is completely free.

Falmouth is one of the only places in the world where native oysters are still harvested by sail and oar, using traditional methods that have been passed down through generations. The festival proudly celebrates this remarkable local heritage while marking the official start of the oyster dredging season.

For over a century, Cornish families have derived their livelihood from oyster dredging in the Carrick Roads and surrounding rivers. Many of the oyster boats, known as Falmouth Working Boats, were built in boatyards around the Fal, with some of the oldest dating back as far as 1860. 100 years ago, over 130 oyster dredgers worked out of Falmouth and St Mawes, and virtually every port in Cornwall had its own fleet.

Governed by ancient laws put in place to protect the natural ecology of the riverbeds and oyster stock, oystermen fishing in the Port of Truro Oyster Fishery are prohibited from using engines. Instead, sail power and hand-pulled dredges must be used. This is the only oyster fishery in Europe, if not the world, where such traditional methods must still be used.

The Fal oyster beds are open to anyone to have a go. It’s not recommended though – it takes years to learn the tricky ways of the wind and local tides – and don’t expect much of a helping hand from the locals. Fishermen are tighter lipped than the oysters they catch.

Falmouth Oyster Festival has been running for almost 30 years and has become a must for all oyster, seafood and maritime heritage enthusiasts. With an ever-expanding range of mouth-watering Cornish food and drink on offer, the festival has gathered a loyal following of thousands who gather to celebrate the unique local heritage of the maritime town.