Virginia Hosts A Pair Of Fall Oyster Festivals

Travelers visiting Virginia to admire its fall foliage can also shuck and savor oysters at two fall oyster festivals.

The Chincoteague Island Oyster Festival, an all-you-can-eat oyster festival in Chincoteague, Va., celebrates the beginning of oyster season on Oct. 6. Guests can feast on Chincoteague oysters, crabs, hush puppies, and clam chowder. Tickets are $40.

Virginia is the largest producer of farm-raised oysters in the U.S., and they are the featured treat at the 55th annual Urbanna Oyster Festival in Urbanna, Va., to be held Nov. 2 and 3. The weekend festival includes a free oyster-shucking contest, where contestants will be judged on shucking speed as well as amount of shell fragments, clean separation of the oyster from the shell, and damage to the meat of the oyster. The event also features a wine tasting with Rappahannock River Oysters paired with Virginia wines. Tickets to the wine tasting are $10.

Lauren Mack is the Travel Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @lmack.