Annual Murrells Inlet Oyster Roast returns this weekend

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WMBF) - The South Strand will be home to the 19th annual Murrells Inlet Oyster Roast on Saturday and organizers expect over 1,000 people to partake.

“Murrells Inlet, I mean we are the seafood capital of South Carolina, so what’s more Murrells Inlet seafood than the oysters themselves?” said Stacy Johnson, executive director of Murrells Inlet 2020.

Murrells Inlet 2020 is hosting this event which will include all-you-can-eat oysters straight from the Grand Strand.

“We want to make sure we’re serving those Murrells Inlet oysters to people, and not getting oysters in from the Gulf or Virginia,” said Johnson. “We always try to make sure they’re local here within the Murrells Inlet waters.”

This year, the oysters are coming from just down the road from the Marshwalk, at Seven Seas Seafood Market. This is the fourth year the business is supplying all the oysters for the event.

“We’re one of the only seafood markets that’s actually able to get local oysters right out of our waters in Murrells Inlet,” said Henry Ford, co-owner of the market.

Ford said his team starts collecting the oysters about a week out, but the planning starts much earlier.

“[We] basically check all of the tide charts just to make sure the tides line up,” said Ford. “We’re looking for a low tide, you know because you can’t harvest oysters at night or on a high tide.”

Ford said collecting the oysters is a lot of work.

“When the guys go out and they harvest these oysters, each bag of oyster, you know, he’s got to register where it came from, what time he picked it, and the actual area that it came from,” said Ford.

But, Ford said his team enjoys it and they even volunteer at the oyster roast.

Johnson said it brings the community together.

“Come out and just witness the community that comes out for this event and just the camaraderie that goes around,” said Johnson.

The oyster roast will take place on Saturday, Nov. 4, starting at 11:30 a.m. at Wicked Tuna in Murrells Inlet.

Johnson said all tickets to eat oysters have been sold, but there will be plenty of other activities and everyone is welcome. For event details, you can visit their website.

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