Celebrate the Good Life at the Knysna Oyster Festival

Knysna Oyster Festival

This year marks the 26^th anniversary cel­eb­ra­tion of one of the most pop­u­lar annual events in the Garden Route of the Western Cape. The Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival was con­cep­tu­al­ised by the late local busi­ness man, Dick Ginsberg. Its pur­pose was to entice vis­it­ors to Knysna dur­ing winter and it has without a doubt achieved this.

The fest­ival kicks off with the Miss Pearl Beauty Pageant on Thursday 2 July 2009 and runs until Sunday 12 July 2009. These ten days are jam packed with more than 100 events tak­ing place, over 200 000 oysters being con­sumed and sport and enter­tain­ment for every­one. The main sport­ing events of the fest­ival are the Pick n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon and the Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour.

Knysna Oyster Festival

The Knysna Forest Marathon is always a great suc­cess and par­ti­cipants can take place in either the 42.2km full mara­thon or the 21.1km half-marathon. This is a favour­ite on the run­ning cal­en­dar. And for the cyc­ling enthu­si­ast The Pick 'n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour offers some­thing for every cyc­list, be it the full 85km mara­thon, the 42km half or the 15km fun ride.

For those of you who are sports spec­tat­ors there are many events to keep you enter­tained. Live music and enter­tain­ment takes place on a daily basis, there are also art exhib­i­tions, flea mar­kets and the Night of 1 000 Pictures (two-night exhib­i­tion of pho­to­graphy, illus­tra­tions and paint­ings to raise funds for the Knysna Hospice by local artists).

Kiddies are also catered for with vari­ous sport­ing com­pet­i­tions, face paint­ing, art and cook­ing classes and much more. Pick ‘n Pay is host­ing a 3 day Pavement Art Competition for chil­dren (Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 July) where each child wins a prize for tak­ing part and all chil­dren and teen­agers under 17  are able to par­ti­cip­ate by cre­at­ing a work of art in char­coal and chalk any­where on the paved area of Woodmill Lane Shopping Centre.

Knysna Oyster Festival

To hon­our the long-standing tra­di­tion of their par­ti­cip­a­tion in the Oyster Festival, the South African Navy and their inter­na­tion­ally acclaimed Band will enter­tain one and all dur­ing the street parade and their live con­cert at the Waterfront.

It wouldn’t be an Oyster Festival without oysters and this year is no dif­fer­ent. And some of the most pop­u­lar events are the oyster eat­ing com­pet­i­tion, the annual oyster-shucking (open­ing) com­pet­i­tion and the Pick n Pay Oyster & Wine Mardi Gras - which is a fant­astic even­ing of oysters and wine tasting.

Knysna Oyster Festival

The Tabasco Hotspots serve oysters naked, cooked or gar­nished through­out the fest­ival. Some of the del­ic­acies on offer are Firefly smoked oysters with savoury black ses­ame seed ice-cream, served with Tellicherry pep­per bis­cuits from the Firefly Eating House. While Sirocco has whipped a vari­ety of fla­vour­some salsa's to spice up your oyster, with their Vodka Chutney a firm favourite.

If you haven’t already made plans to make your way to the 2009 Knysna Oyster Festival be sure to mark your cal­en­dar well in advance for next year’s fest­ival. The memor­ies will be treas­ured for years to come.

Useful Links:
Visit the offi­cial Knysa Oyster Festival Website for the full pro­gramme: http://www.oysterfestival.co.za/
Find des­tin­a­tion inform­a­tion and resources for plan­ning your stay in Knysna at:
Knysna Attractions
Knysna Accommodation
Knysna Hotels
Things to Do in Knysna