Stranraer Oyster Festival recorded its most successful year in the event’s history.
The festival saw record crowds, record ticket sales and an oyster bar that sold out completely by early afternoon on Sunday, despite bringing record quantities of oysters.
The event, which took place on the Stranraer waterfront from 11th to 13th September, celebrates Scotland’s last wild native oyster fishery in Loch Ryan. Organisers Stranraer Development Trust say ticketed events across the programme sold at record levels, with many of the chef demonstrations, community events and marine science sessions selling out well before the weekend.
Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company had increased the volume of oysters supplied to the festival for 2026 in anticipation of higher demand. But, the oyster bar sold out completely by early afternoon on Sunday, with more than one-and-a-half tonnes served over the weekend.
Tristan Hugh-Jones, Director of the fishery, estimates that around 5,000 people ate an oyster at the festival, hundreds of them for the first time.
Romano Petrucci, Chair of Stranraer Development Trust, said: “This has been the most successful Stranraer Oyster Festival ever. We spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year thinking about the layout of the site, because the festival has become busier every year and we needed to take the bottlenecks out and give people space to relax and really enjoy it, and I think we cracked it.
“Last year was fantastically successful, but we knew we could do better, so we listened to what people told us they wanted. Keeping the festival looking out onto the loch was really important to us, because that view, looking out towards the oyster bed, is its heart.
“I don’t think anyone can put their finger on exactly why this year felt so magical, but it did. There is something about this place and everyone in the community who works so hard to put on this celebration. When we started this festival, it was about reconnecting the town with its loch, and you can see now that Stranraer has fallen back in love with the sea. The festival has truly come of age.”
The celebrity chef line-up returned in strength, with Matt Tebbutt, Rosemary Shrager, Tony Singh and Julie Lin back in Stranraer alongside Ryan McCutcheon and Dougie and Massi Lisi. Neil Reader took the Scottish Shucking Championship title but offered his spot at the World Shucking Championship to runner up Grace Murray who has recently recovered from cancer. Grace will now go on to represent Scotland at the Worlds in Galway on 25-27th September.
Matt Tebbutt, who presents BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, said: “This is such a joyous, soulful festival. It’s not like a traditional UK food festival where it’s all spread out and commercial, this is all here in one place, it feels very European, and I think that’s what makes it so special - you’ve got families here, there’s kids out playing at night. And it’s not about the chefs, a lot of food festivals is all about big name chefs, but it’s not about that here, it’s about the local people and about how wonderful the oysters are. I think it’s brilliant.”
Chef and TV presenter Julie Lin, added: “This is my fourth year taking part, and it’s only grown in community spirit, and it’s so nice to see all these gorgeous new faces, as well as seeing regular faces every year. Stranraer Oyster Festival has got this magical joy about it. It’s one of the best festivals in the UK and I can’t wait to see how it develops.”
Beyond the kitchen stages, the festival’s community and marine science programme drew some of the weekend’s strongest demand, with local history talks, marine science experiences and wellbeing activities proving especially popular. Traders across the site reported their strongest sales since the festival began in 2017, with multiple traders reporting sellouts.
Speaking about the high demand for oysters, Tristan Hugh-Jones of Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company said, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Stranraer Oyster Festival was founded by Stranraer Development Trust in 2017 as a community response to the loss of the town’s ferry port to Cairnryan in 2011. Independent economic analysis shows the festival has generated more than £12 million for the local economy, and it is delivered on a not-for-profit basis with the majority of its budget spent with local suppliers. Around 150 community volunteers supported the delivery of the festival this year.
The 2026 festival was headline sponsored by Lactalis UK & Ireland and supported by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Major Events Strategic Fund, South of Scotland Enterprise, Rock Island Whisky, Galloway Distillery, The Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company, Stranraer Skills Station, The Holywood Trust and Seafood Scotland.
Dates for Stranraer Oyster Festival 2027 will be announced soon.
Photo credits: Colin Hattersley