Tag: Oak Island’s Seafood Festival Has Been Rescheduled

When the weather turns bad the week of a festival, a coastal town experiences a certain kind of disappointment. The vendors who have been preparing batter and shrimp counts for days, the bands tuning up, and the families who had circled the date on the refrigerator weeks ago are all examples of how you can practically feel it in the parking lots and storefronts along Oak Island’s main strip.

Therefore, there was likely more relief than annoyance when the Town of Oak Island announced on Wednesday that the second annual Seafood Festival would now take place on Sunday, May 3, instead of Saturday, May 2. A sunny Sunday is preferable to a tarps-covered Saturday.

The festival is still held at the Middleton Park Complex on East Dolphin Drive from noon to five o’clock. Officially, the event is the same, but it has been moved by one day. However, anyone who has planned something similar knows that a 24-hour reorganization is rarely easy. Vendors must be contacted. Bands need to be verified again. Everything needs to go smoothly, including generator rentals, ice deliveries, and permits.

This year’s attractions are similar to last year’s, but they’re bigger. The peel-and-eat shrimp competition is back, which sounds cute until you see grown adults crouching over a paper plate with butter-slick fingers and avoiding eye contact. There are food trucks parked along the park’s perimeter, cooking demonstrations, and a craft and artisan market that typically draws small-batch producers not typically found at larger commercial fairs. If you’ve heard the Lockwood River Band perform locally, you are aware of their tendency toward a laid-back coastal sound that almost perfectly suits an afternoon like this.

Even though Oak Island doesn’t promote itself as a festival town, it’s important to note that it has been quietly establishing that reputation. Most locals seem to be okay with the Brunswick Islands stretch not being Myrtle Beach. There is a feeling that the town would prefer to develop gradually and independently rather than try to attract larger crowds. The seafood festival, which is only in its second year, follows that pattern: it is ambitious enough to draw people from Wilmington and beyond, but it is small enough to feel like a community event.

One of the minor but significant details is the parking situation. The town declared that during the event, the enforcement of paid parking will be suspended from SE 46th Street to SE 49th Street. It’s a small logistical detail, but it’s the kind of thing that indicates the town is more interested in providing hospitality than collecting money on festival day. It will be appreciated by the locals. It’s unlikely that guests will even recognize how much of a courtesy it is.

Naturally, there is still a little bit of uncertainty surrounding the day. A forecast that appears promising on Wednesday may change by Sunday morning because coastal weather has its own opinions. However, the organizers appear optimistic, and the revised forecast, which calls for sunshine and moderate temperatures, suggests that the afternoon will be ideal for shrimp and live music in a park by the water. Even though the reschedule must have been internally frustrating, it’s difficult to avoid thinking that it might turn out to be a tiny bit of luck.

Bring cash for the craft market (some of the vendors are traditional) and enough food to eat at multiple food truck stops if you’re driving down for the day. The band begins in the early afternoon, the festival is free, and parking is free. May 3, Sunday, noon to five. That’s the new strategy, and it seems like a good one.