The Knysna Oyster Festival is supposed to be “the best 10 days of your winter”, according to the organisers, but in the days running up to the festival it felt like they’d chosen the worst 10 days of the year.

And then, after days of howling wind, driving rain and grey skies, the clouds went away, the wind dropped and the festival started living up to its hype.

Now in its 26th year, the Knysna Oyster Festival attracts visitors from far and wide to enjoy the fruits of the town’s famous lagoon.

If the economic downturn has badly affected the hospitality industry, it has not made much of an impression on the festival, which has drawn an even greater number of bookings than in the past.

Knysna’s head of tourism Shawn van Eck said: “We are bound to feel the pinch eventually, but so far interest in the festival continues to grow.”

Entries for the accompanying events, the Knysna Forest Marathon and the mountain bike race, have increased by 10 percent on last year’s figures.

Festival organiser Nicci Rousseau said an effort was being made to spread the attendance over all the days of the festival, rather than over the weekends.

“Our aim this year is to push the midweek events. Historically, the two weekends of the festival have always been busy, so our goal is to encourage our visitors to extend their stay in Knysna through the week.”

One of the highlights is the oyster-eating competition at the Long Barn. Best known for its pub meals, the Long Barn lays on oysters by the thousands for contestants who see how many they can get to slither down their throats.

But if form is anything to go by, they are all swallowing in vain if they think can beat local police captain Michelle Lesch, who has won the contest for the past 10 years and will be back to defend her title on Thursday.

Lesch explains she has a technique where she slices through the muscle and sucks out the oyster in one swift movement. She admits she does not feel “too well” the day after her feat but says she is back eating them after a few days.

There is also wide interest in the Oyster and Wine Mardi Gras, which has been held for the past three years. It takes place on Wednesday, and entry is limited to 800.

Event director Gino Adriaensen said there would be more than 15 000 oysters and 300 litres of wine, including French champagne, for consumption by guests.

Included in the night event is an oyster cooking contest which involves up to 25 local chefs preparing cooked oysters for a crowd of about 800.

Last year the best oyster dish was awarded to George restaurant Tarragons for its light and refreshing Oyster with a Twist.

Down at the Knysna Oyster Company, they are preparing for an influx of visitors who are going to suction up hundreds of thousands of oysters.

Any doubts as to whether there will be enough to go around are put aside by Patrick Ngele, who conducts daily tours of the factory, where visitors can see the process of turning tiny seeds into fully- grown oysters.

At any one time there are millions of oysters being cultivated in the lagoon.

The seeds, or spats, are imported from France and Chile and left in the lagoon to grow.

While the oyster festival is mainly about eating oysters, the art of opening them is also the subject of a contest.

Tabasco Sauce sponsors an oyster shucking contest. The record is held by an employee of the Knysna Oyster Company, Eleki Ngcwangu, who managed to shuck 30 oysters in one minute and 39 seconds, an achievement that won him the world title for shucking at a contest in Ireland in 2006.

The high winds and sweeping rain of recent weeks have dampened spirits, but they also posed a temporary problem when it came to erecting the huge marquee in which many of the events are to be held.

Picca du Bruin, who heads the logistics for the events at said it was a bit like raising the sails of a large boat at sea.

Source: tonight.co.za