Less than two months out from the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, controversy is again bubbling up over beer at Arcata Main Street’s fundraiser. The event drew fire last year (“What is Going on with Beer at Oyster Fest?” May 11, 2018) for requiring donations rather than purchasing from local beverage companies and only pouring Redwood […]
Arcata Main Street
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Pour One Out: No Humboldt Beer at Oyster Fest
Less than two months out from the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, controversy is again bubbling up over beer at Arcata Main Street’s fundraiser. The previously local-brew-centric event drew fire last year for requiring donations rather than purchasing from local beverage companies and only pouring Redwood Curtain Brewing Co. beer alongside out-of-towners Lagunitas and SeaQuake at the […]
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Bivalve Bacchanal
You could get just about any creative approach to raw or barbecued oysters on Saturday at the 27th annual Oyster Festival in Arcata – except oyster-flavored ice cream. Staff from Humboldt Creamery, who were passing out free ice cream in the Family Fun Zone, said they might work on that for next year. The Arcata […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Best of the Oyster Fest
Upsets and new blood (brine?) marked this year’ Arcata Bay Oyster Festival. As crowds swarmed the plaza, lining up for paper trays of oysters, judges (myself among them) sampled entrants in the Best Raw, Best Cooked, Best Non-oyster and, for the first time this year, Best in Show. The new Best in Show category, according […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Nice Sweater
Some things are so ugly they’re cute. On Sunday, Dec. 4, nearly 300 people leaned into the ugly, donning bright, lumpy, spangly and snowman-festooned pullovers and cardigans for the Ugly Holiday Sweater Fun Run. Starting at the Arcata Plaza, the wild and wooly 1-mile or 5-kilometer race organized by Arcata Main Street benefitted Humboldt Educare. […]
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Santa on the Plaza
Organizers of Arcata Main Street’s Lighting Ceremony on Friday evening were greatly relieved by the mild weather. The kick-off event for the Season of Wonder & Light drew a large crowd of adults and children to the Arcata Plaza. Fueled by cider, cookies, candy canes and mandarins, the crowd listened to Donald Forrest’s dramatic reading […]
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Job Opening at Arcata Main Street
Update: On Nov. 9, Arcata Main Street Board Member Travis Turner emailed a letter of resignation to Neyra and others, in which he alleged misdeeds and said he was looking into the legality of the board’s actions. Turner said, in part: “I feel that you and your company profiting from the Oyster Festival creates a […]
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Oysters, Beer and Cash
When organizers of Arcata’s Oyster Festival announced they would charge a $10 admission fee this year, people went bonkers. “Elitism!” was the cry du jour. Organizers and supporters pleaded for calm, saying the fee would curtail the festival’s rowdiness and right Arcata Main Street’s listing finances. The ruckus has mostly subsided, but “are you going […]