NAROOMA OYSTER FESTIVAL 2-4 MAY 2025
Join growers, chefs, and shuckers to celebrate the unique, rare, and oh-so-tasty Rock Oyster from May 2 to 4. It’s Australia’s iconic oyster shellabration!
Narooma Oyster festival: celebrate Rock Oyster Country
A true symphony of merroir, season, cultivation, and exceptional produce, the Narooma Oyster Festival brings the best of New South Wales to the shores of Wagonga Inlet – the heart of Rock Oyster Country.
Friday, May 2, begins with Oyster Festival Classic; a fun Ambrose 9 hole event and seafood lunch. From 4pm, gather around the Main Stage at Quota Park to feast at the oyster and liquor bars, with gourmet plates and snacks from the market. Bask in live music on the Main Stage, watch the River of Art and Bioluminescence light shows along the boulevard and get ready for the annual fireworks show over the Inlet. Picnic blankets welcome!
Saturday, the main event, draws everyone back to Quota Park. Farmers bring their best harvest straight from the estuaries to Oyster Farmers Alley and Australia’s Biggest Oyster competition – and their best knives for the Australian Oyster Shucking Championships. Chefs elevate the finest local produce, turning the foreshore into a feast for the senses. Enjoy cosmopolitan and Indigenous cooking demonstrations, markets, more live music, and roving performers – all accompanied by a selection of
20 or more celebrated winemakers, brewers, and distillers.
Heard of merroir? Discover it with all your senses in the Ultimate Oyster Experience, a masterclass like no other. For even more indulgence, book a spot in the Rock Oyster Lounge, board a Champagne Oyster Cruise or settle in for a Gin, Bubbles or Beer Masterclass. Watch cooking demonstrations with host Courtney Roulston (Farm to Fork), joined by guest chefs like Analiese Gregory (How Wild Things Are) from Tasmania, Al Brown (Go Fish, Stoked) from New Zealand, Narooma’s own Al Newbold (Mr Bold), and others.
Sunday morning will see Narooma’s Biggest Breakfast with Narooma’s community legends at Quota Park and it’s free entry for everyone!
Arrive a little earlier to enjoy Rock Oyster Week – a chance to explore the region’s culinary, cultural, and natural offerings in the lead up to the Festival weekend.
Accommodation and Saturday’s ticketed coaches are available from Batemans Bay to Bega, and Bermagui, with a shuttle bus running around Narooma throughout the weekend.
Tickets available from February 5, 2025. Visit the official website for more information.
Leave the car at home, there’s a free shuttle bus round town and coaches from Batemans Bay to Bermagui.
Narooma Oyster Festival Program
Friday Night 5 May
Narooma Oyster Festival warm up
From 4.00pm to 8.30pm
Tickets at the gate
A twilight affair that ends with fireworks over the water.
- Club Narooma Main Stage
- Narooma Rocks Oyster Bar
- Festival Oyster & Liquor Bar
- River of Art projections
- Selected food vendors
- Long Table Dinner
- Yuin Native Food Exploration
- Fireworks at 8.30pm
Saturday 6 May
Oyster Festival Celebrations
From 10.00am to 5.30pm
Tickets at the gate
- Oyster Farmers Alley
- Australia’s Oyster Shucking Championships
- Australia’s Biggest Oyster
- Yuin Bunaan Cultural Program
- Betta Cooking Demonstration Program
- Narooma Plaza Kids Zone
- Live music on two stages
- Producers, distillers, brewers and winemakers
- River of Art
- Food and Market stalls
- Ultimate Oyster Experiences
- Champagne and Oyster Cruises
- Rock Oyster Lounge
- Salty Festival Fiesta, by Olssons
- Free shuttle bus in Narooma
- Coaches from Batemans Bay to Bermagui
Sunday 6 May
Inaugural breakfast- a Hangtown Fry!
From 9.30am to 12.00pm
Start the day right with a hearty Hangtown Fry at Club Narooma, our inaugural Sunday breakfast!
A dish born on the Californian Goldfields, the Hangtown Fry combines crumbed oysters and bacon inside a soft pillow of fluffy eggs. These were expensive ingredients to buy and transport to the goldfields, and so the Hangtown Fry was a dish usually reserved for the rich and for the condemned, who often chose it for their last meal.
Settle in on the lawns or inside with a reviving beverage and fill your belly, there will also be live tunes and full club facilities.
Discover more on Sunday
Explore Narooma and surrounds
Narooma is one of the most spectacular and picturesque towns on the NSW south coast, with a series of sweeping bends leading you to the stunning aquamarine waters of the estuary and old steel bridge. The Wagonga Inlet and bay waters are instantly inviting, and the urge to pull over and immerse yourself in the landscape is hard to resist.
When the festival is over, take some time out to explore the stunning coastline, landmarks and precincts of Narooma and nearby localities.
Discover the beauty of Mystery Bay, the heritage villages of the Tilba District and historic Bodalla.
There are plenty of reasons to stay longer in Narooma.
Read more about about the fascinating world of oysters in these feature articles Merroir and Oysters and Guardians of the sea
