• oysterfest19-03
    oysterfest19-03
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    Thousands gathered on the Arcata Plaza to stand in line to buy oysters, listen to music or have a picnic on the grass.
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    Humboldt County First District Supervisor Rex Bohn volunteered again to help grill thousands of oysters at the Humboldt Bay Oyster venue.
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    Emcee Lady Flavah (left) introduced the children participating in the Oyster Calling Contest in the absence of David Silverbrand, who had to miss his usual emcee role for health reasons.
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    Cal Ferris, of Eureka and owner of Humboldt Hotsauce, evoked old-time Eureka history with his oyster calling that replicated the call of an oyster street vendor from decades ago.
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    Nathan DuPre, of Fairfax and an Arcata native and graduate of Arcata High School, brought his family back to Arcata to experience the Oyster Festival and then snagged first place in the Oyster Calling Contest – a great way to impress one’s children.
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    Carlrey Arroyo, a volunteer from the Outer Space organization in Arcata, helped the event meet its zero-waste goals by staffing one of the recycling/oyster shells/garbage stands on the plaza.
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    Volunteer cook Chris Barry showed off the barbecue options at the Shamus T Bones venue.
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    The Pacific Seafoods barbecue cooking crew circled round the cooking area to keep up with the demand.
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    Cal Ferris, of Eureka and owner of Humboldt Hotsauce, tended the oysters before applying his special sauces at his venue.
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    A couple of bars on the north side of the plaza had not-so-subtle signs about the availability of local beer options.
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    The children’s fun zone on Ninth Street between H and I streets featured the usual with a bounce house, crafts, wax hands, tie-dyeing, plus Missy Newkirk Fiedler and crew applying face-painting designs.
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    An art market on H Street north of the plaza offered a mix of offerings, including Nancy Brusler’s Humboldt Crystals, with nearby live music on the Green Street Stage by Ghost Train, The Gatehouse Well and Deadbird Son.
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    Members of the Eureka High School Cheerleader Squad volunteered to help raise money for their organization by staffing an oyster booth.
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    Greg Young, of Eureka, helped monitor the oyster grill at the Eureka High School Cheerleader Squad’s fundraising venue.
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    The 2018 Rhutabaga Queen for Life Metalana took a break from volunteering at one of the SeaQuake Brewery stalls to find provisions for the other Kinetic volunteers.
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    Andy Rydzewski, of Los Angeles and formerly Humboldt County, added yet another tally mark of his oyster eating (No.148), beating his prior record of 144 the last time he participated in the Oyster Festival. He said he had an advantage being one of the judges of the Oyster Contest.
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    Shannon and Terry (foreground) of the Slippery When Wet team worked their way toward an eventual third-place finish in the Shuck-n-Swallow Contest.
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    Participating for the first time in the Shuck-n-Swallow Contest, the two members of the Sand Biters team (foreground) slowly worked their way through their allotted oysters.
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    The Humshuckers team of Zack Mathieu (left), of Eureka, and Stephan Park, of McKinleyville, successfully defended their seventh-consecutive shuck’n’suck title in the oyster Shuck-n-Swallow Contest.