Oyster Fest to Offer More Than Mollusks

For the fourth year, the Guinness Oyster Festival is coming to Red Bank.

The food and music event, to be held in the White Street parking lot from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday, marks the opening of oyster season. It is modeled after the original Galway Oyster Festival, according to a release, and sponsored by the Asbury Park Press and several other businesses.

Red Bank's restaurants will be showcased, as will area bands.

The entertainment schedule, as posted on the Red Bank RiverCenter website, is as follows:

West Stage (Behind Teak Restaurant)

• Billy Hector Band — blues, noon to 1:30 p.m.
• Mashwork Orange — pop mashups, dance, hip hop, 2 to 3 p.m.
• Pat Roddy Band — rock & roll w/Irish influences, 3:30 to 5 p.m.
• The Nerds — pop, rock & roll, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

East Stage (Behind The Dublin House)

• Bagpipes and Drums, noon to 12:30 p.m.
• Gedeon Luke — soul, funk, blues, Motown, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• Brian Kirk and the Jirks — rock, pop, funk, swing, jazz, 3 to 4:30 p.m.
• Black 47 — Irish Rock, 5 to 6:30 p.m.

For more background information on the groups, click here.

Roughly 25 Red Bank restaurants will be represented and will offer a wide variety of food in addition to the namesake feature of the event — oysters. Click here for a full list.

And, of course, there will be oysters prepared in just about every way there is to prepare them — raw, fried, shooters, po' boy. Last year, the Lusty Lobster told Patch that more than 10,000 oysters were shucked at the event.