FOOD & DRINK
AT THE FEST

THE MENU

Fresh, raw, coming to you straight from the producers who grew them… of course the oysters are the star of the show at Oysterfest. But even at the festival it can be nice to enjoy oysters alongside other food and drink, so we've arranged to have a variety of non-oysters offerings available to purchase on site, to satisfy a wide range of cravings.

For food, the festival is partnering with the Halifax restaurants Pickford & Black, Gahan House and The Barrington Steakhouse & Oyster Bar. The menu will include:

Broiled Oysters $5.50

Sausage in a bun $7

Pretzels BITES $9

Seafood Chowder $10

MINI Lobster Roll $12

And when it comes to drinks, we will be serving:

Tidal Bay wine

NS Spirit Co. spirits

The Blue Lobster family, of course

Annapolis cider

Caesars and martinis

Beer from Painted Boat and Stella Artois

We also have non-alcoholic beverages on offer such as:

Sparkling water

Viveau juice

Kombucha

New this year: Dollar cards

In previous years at the festival, we've gotten lots of compliments about the food and drink, but people haven't always enjoyed the purchasing experience. That's because we used a system where guests had to buy paper tickets, and then use the tickets to pay for things like beer and lobster rolls from the food vendors. Sounds straightforward, but in practise people ended up with unwieldy strings of tickets sticking out of their pockets and purses, and if the paper got wet and fell apart, that was really your money getting destroyed. Not great!

So this year we made a big change to the way things work. When you arrive at the festival, you will be given a reloadable “dollar card,” and this card is THE ONLY WAY to purchase food, drink and merch items at the festival. It's really easy for you to load money onto your card: You can add money to your dollar card at any of the self-serve kiosks inside the event, or at the designated booth where cash will be accepted. Self-serve kiosks accept Visa, Mastercard and debit. But at the food, drink and merch vendors, they only accept the dollar card—no credit, debit or cash.

We've talked to other festivals that use the dollar card, and they're finding that people tend to love the simplicity of having all their purchasing in one place. This card is like a gift card at a store—it has none of your personal information, which means it’s good for privacy, but just like cash anyone can use it if you lose it. Festival dollar cards are non-refundable, but you can check your balance at any time at one of the kiosks. 

Keeping things simple, $1 on the card = $1 at the festival.