Oyster flavours and fun at this year’s Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival

Whether you like to slurp them, chew them, eat them fresh or cooked, oysters will be a big part of this year’s Pick n Pay Oyster Festival! There are plenty of oysters on the menu and lots of oyster events on the programme. Party in style at the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival’s premier culinary event, the Pick n Pay Oyster & Wine Mardi Gras presented by Tabasco, on 7 July 2010. Hosted by the Garden Route region of the South African Chefs Association, the Mardi Gras combines the skills of oyster cooking chefs with choice South African wines and bubbly. This celebration of flavour and fun is not to be missed! Organiser Gino Adriaensen says that the event will celebrate life, good food and the 20th anniversary of the Oyster Cooking Competition. The event will be held in the Heineken® Pavilion at the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival Grounds in Waterfront Drive from 6pm till late and will serve up more than 16 000 oysters and 1200 litres of wine. Tickets at R220 each will be available at Robberg Seafood Safari from the end of May. Online bookings can already be made by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The Oyster Shucking Competition presented by Tabasco (Tuesday 6 July) and the Longbarn Oyster Eating Competition (Thursday 8 July) are always highlights of the festival and lots of fun for both participants and spectators. This year the Oyster Eating Competition will see an individual attempt to eat 24 oysters in the fastest time; a team attempt to open and eat the most oysters in a specified time; and an attempt to break the Guiness Book of World Records record of eating 552 oysters in 10 minutes! Look for details on the website if you’d like to compete in either competition! The festival is bringing oysters to visitors again this year at extra special prices! There are more than 20 Oyster Hotspots all over Knysna which will offer coastal and cultivated oysters served ‘au naturel’, with different salsas or cooked in a variety of mouth-watering ways. Look out for the Hotspots and enjoy oysters at excellent value! After all, that’s what this festival is all about!