Oyster Festival 2020 To See Big Changes Amid Coronavirus: Report

OYSTER BAY, NY — The Oyster Festival has become the latest event forced to reinvent itself in the coronavirus era. For starters, much of the massive, two-day waterfront festival in Oyster Bay, which draws an estimated 150,000 people a year, won't be held in October at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park, Newsday reported.

Instead, much of the festival will be virtual this year, including eating and shucking competitions, an auction and a social media contest. Furthermore, smaller events will be held from Oct. 12-18.

"As the virus spread and got worse across the country, we came to the realization that it may be very hard to put on a large-scale event that typically attracts 150,000 people over two days in a public space," Harlan Friedman, the festival's director of development, told the newspaper. "As a result, the festival is pivoting to set itself up for the future."

Patch has reached out to the festival for comment and will update when we hear back. In a Facebook post last week, organizers urged the community to consider supporting charities supported by the festival.

This is the second consecutive year the festival has faced turmoil. As Patch previously reported, a funding crisis last year nearly caused the event to be canceled. Weeks before the event, multiple local businesses and groups pledged to help save the decades-old event.