WELLFLEET — Last Saturday dawned sunny and mild — rare weather for the first day of the annual OysterFest.
Organized by the Wellfleet Oyster Alliance (WOA), the festival drew a crowd of 19,437 — at least, that’s how many tickets were sold. That number doesn’t include any who may have snuck in, says Deirdre Oringer, the nonprofit’s director of community outreach: “Who knows?” On Sunday, the day for locals, 2,483 free tickets were distributed to Wellfleet taxpayers — both residents and nonresidents.
For two days, Oct. 19 and 20, people milled about Main Street under a bright blue sky, slurping bivalves and beers. At Wellfleet Preservation Hall, Payomet’s Cirque by the Sea performed mini shows, and Outermost Bateria held a capoeira demonstration. Inside the hall, festivalgoers sipped mimosas.
On the street, artists and artisans displayed their wares for passers-by eating sugar-coated fried dough. At the library, courageous brainiacs entered the annual spelling bee, and in the parking lot behind town hall, musicians played on the big stage.
The festival boasted eight oyster-shucking stands — technically nine, if you count the stand at Hatch’s Fish Market. Around 70,000 oysters were sold, and 3.57 tons of oyster shells were recycled, says Oringer.
For fundraising and fun, WOA auctioned off two gargantuan lobsters (10 and 12 pounds) and one humongous oyster (19.75 ounces). Jim Gray of Harwich won the lobsters, paying $1,400 for the pair. “He pledged to release them,” says Oringer. Steve Wood from Dorchester won the oyster at $750, but “he gave us 800 bucks,” says Oringer. “I’m not sure he released it.”
Twenty-five competitors entered this year’s shuck off, which has become the largest shucking contest in North America, according to Oringer. John Baby, who comes to the fest from Toronto, was back at his job as head judge. Wellfleeters Necee Regis and Mike May were the other two deciders at the event.
Judging criteria went as follows: each competitor started with 26 oysters and was allowed to discard two. Then the timing began. After all had finished, penalties were assessed for flaws like broken shells, oysters not fully cut from their shells, and the presence of blood (not the oysters’ but the shuckers’).
Last year’s champion, Ben Morgan of Eastham, placed third this time at 2 minutes, 47 seconds, winning $500 and a pair of Xtratuf boots. Runner-up William Ceddia from Groton, Conn. came in at 2 minutes, 28 seconds. He won the boots and $1,500.
This year’s victor, Chris Manocchio from Toronto, won with a time of 2 minutes and 13 seconds. “It was his first time at the Wellfleet OysterFest,” says Oringer. She says he told the organizers that he’d won essentially every shucking competition held in Canada at least once. Manocchio’s prize was $3,000 and he got a pair of boots, too.
“We loved him,” says Oringer. “But I don’t know who will ever beat him.”
