Break for...the 2012 Urbanna Oyster Festival!

The town of Urbanna shuts down each year during the annual Urbanna Oyster Festival.  During Oyster Festival, the quaint streets of Urbanna are transformed into an amazing celebration of the bi-valve mollusc known as the oyster.   From street vendors, to fun food, oysters prepared every way imaginable, educational displays to a dizzying array of special events, music, and parades, the Oyster Festival is not to be missed (it was, in fact, recently mentioned as far away as the Philadelphia Inquirer as a fun road trip).  The festival runs all day Friday and Saturday.  The Oyster Queen and Little Miss Spat are selected on Friday - here were the 2012 finalists:

Live music is available on multiple stages throughout the town:

And many of the streets are shut down to traffic to allow for exploring the vendors and food:

Since my father is a long time Kiwanian in Ohio, I took special note of the Kiwanis Oyster booth:

The capstone event Friday night is the Fireman's Parade - which begins after dark and features almost 50 firetrucks of varying sizes, volume levels, shapes, era, and jurisdiction (firetrucks from as far away as Virginia Beach were in the parade).  They all compete for sound - the sirons wailing in tandem is a cacaphony to behold.  Seasoned veterans to the Fireman's Parade bring earplugs.  Since we were newbies, this is how we watched the parade:

 

 

Our favorite event by far was Saturday's Oyster Shucking Contest.  There were heats for the amateurs:

And then the men's professional contest (Jermaine at far right was the champion):

And the women's finals - sisters, Clementine and Deborah (middle and right) are world renowned oyster shuckers.  Deborah won the women's professional round this year:

And then the two professional champions face off.

Deborah Pratt took the title this year and she rode in style at the Oyster Festival Parade later that day:

 

 

The shucked raw oysters are passed around among the spectators - here Rob is about to enjoy an oyster shucked by Jermaine in the competition:

 



Although I took a pass on eating oysters - raw, roasted, grilled, fried, Rockefellered, or otherwise - I was able to find my favorite festival food and enjoyed it thoroughly...deep fried pickles:

 

 

Although the weekend was unseasonably cold and windy, we enjoyed every minute of the 2012 Urbanna Oyster Festival.  Here's a few more shots of the parade...and now, break time is over and it's back to work on the project.