Love Oysters? Why Ireland Should Be on Your Bivalve Bucket List

A few thousand soused revelers are gathered under a massive tent that faces the water as the sun sets across the ocean. Outside, trucks hawk fried seafood. Inside, a cover band draws a crowd to the dance floor with Brown Eyed Girl.

It’s a scene that could unfold any weekend in my adopted home of New Orleans—though there, the music would be better. But I’m in Galway, Ireland, at the World Oyster Opening Championship. It’s part of the Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival, founded in 1954 and held every September, making it the longest-running festival of its kind in the world. Today, this spot is ground zero for the most zealous of oyster lovers, who carry tray after tray of the freshly shucked mollusks to the cocktail tables surrounding the dance floor. They eat, they drink, and they wait for a rousing competition to unfold among the world’s best shuckers.