Celebrating Outer Banks Seafood Heritage in Nags Head and Ocracoke

Can you imagine the Outer Banks without seafood? Crabs, shrimp, oysters, fish, clams, scallops — they’re part of who we are and a big reason the Outer Banks is so attractive to visitors. Seafood isn’t just a staple on our plates, it’s the backbone of our local economy and a living link to generations of Outer Bankers who’ve made their livelihoods on the water.

We owe a great debt of gratitude not just to the watermen who harvest our seafood, but also to all the other people who bring local seafood to our plates, from fish house staff to the processors to the retailers to the restaurants.

Photo above: Ocracoke commercial fisherman Daniel O'Neal, courtesy of Ocracoke Seafood Company

This weekend brings two opportunities to celebrate the seafood we love and to honor the people who bring it to our tables. These seafood festivals, one in Nags Head and one on Ocracoke Island, honor the traditions and flavors that define coastal life.

Outer Banks Seafood Festival is held right along the water at Soundside Event Site in Nags Head.

Outer Banks Seafood Festival

Saturday, October 18 | Soundside Event Site, Nags Head

Since 2012, the Outer Banks Seafood Festival has honored local fishermen and fisherwomen while showcasing the positive impacts of the local seafood industry. The nonprofit event highlights the importance of commercial fishing, educates visitors about North Carolina’s coastal resources, and raises funds to support local fishing families in need.

Over the years, the event has done more than celebrate the seafood industry — it’s given back to the people of the industry. The Outer Banks Seafood Festival Endowment has always provided financial support for families in the local maritime industry, and since 2022 it has had an endowment fund set up through Outer Banks Community Foundation to continue this support.

Photo: Outer Banks Seafood Festival has opportunities to see fishing boats and gear up close and talk with the people who use them.

Festival Highlights

• Education: Learn from organizations like the N.C. Coastal Federation (“No Wetlands, No Seafood”), N.C. Sea Grant, NC Oyster Trail,and the U.S. Coast Guard.

• Live Demos: Watch shrimp deveining and deheading, shrimp cooking, fish cleaning, underutilized fish cleaning and cooking, and more at the Hook ’Em & Cook ’Em Stage.

• Fishing Heritage Village: Meet local fishermen, see the boats that harvest your seafood, watch crabpot building and gill net hanging, and explore exhibits from Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station, N.C. Watermen United and others.

• Music & Fun: Enjoy live music all day with The Patriot Band, Colton James and No More Room Band. Try your hand at the mullet toss, net casting or even escaping a life-size crab pot.

• Seafood & Drinks: Taste fresh, local dishes from top Outer Banks restaurants: Basnight’s Lone Cedar Café, Dirty Dick’s Crab House, Firehouse Boil, Good Winds, Harbor Grill, Jolly Roger Restaurant, Savage Inlet Oysters, Sea Chef Dockside Kitchen, Shaka’s Beach Bar & Grill, Shipwreck’s Taphouse & Grill, Sticky Bottom Oyster Co., Street Eats Latin Fusion. For drinks, there will be 1718 Brewery, Swells’a Brewing, Sanctuary Vineyards, Coastal Beverage and Pepsi Bottling.

• Vendors, artisans and nonprofits: Browse among booths offering arts, crafts and other merchandise and get information from local nonprofits.

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Photo: ​Outer Banks Seafood Festival features live music all day long.

Tickets: $20 (includes $10 in beverage/merchandise bucks). VIP packages available.

Parking: There is no on-site parking. Shuttle service is available from Nags Head Elementary and The Ark Church in Nags Head. Free bike parking is available. 

More Information: Get all the information you need here.

Photo: Ocracoke Seafood and Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association hold the Ocracoke Working Watermen's Festival at Community Square Docks on Silver Lake Harbor.

Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Festival

Saturday, October 18 | The Community Square Docks, Ocracoke Island

If you find yourself farther south, head to Ocracoke for the third annual Working Watermen's Festival, where the island’s 300-year maritime heritage takes center stage. The festival was rescheduled to this Saturday due to weather on its original date. And, yes, after these crazy northeast winds, N.C. Highway 12 is now open on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands so you can access Ocracoke Island from the north.

For centuries, Ocracokers have made their living from the sea — as clammers, crabbers, oystermen and fishermen, and they still carry on those traditions today. The Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association (OWWA), which manages the island’s only fish house and works to preserve a sustainable, community-driven seafood economy, hosts this festival to celebrate that legacy with exhibits, demonstrations, speakers and fresh local seafood — all set against the backdrop of the island’s historic harbor.

Festival Schedule

• 10 am to 3 pm: Working watermen’s exhibits and demos, vendor booths and guest speakers

• 11 am to 1 pm: Locally made clam chowder lunch benefiting the Ocracoke Community Pool Association

• 3 to 5 pm: Oyster exhibit and tasting with local oyster growers

• 4 to 6 pm: Seafood sampling by Ocracoke Seafood Company and a guest chef, plus live music on the docks at sunset

Tickets: Admission is free, but there is a charge for food.

Parking: A free tram shuttle service will run from the NPS parking lot to the Community Square.

More Information: Find more information here.

Benefits Beyond the Festivals

These events aren’t just fun days out — they’re a celebration of the lifeblood of the Outer Banks. Local working watermen and women are the keepers of a way of life rooted in stewardship of the environment and a deep sense of community.

Whether you’re noshing shrimp in Nags Head or tasting oysters on Ocracoke this weekend, keep in mind all the people who make eating local seafood possible. By participating, your dollars go to good causes. By making an additional donation to these nonprofit causes, your dollars will go even farther to sustain the local seafood industry. If you're able, support them by making a donation online at OcracokeWorkingWatermen.org or Outer Banks Community Foundation's Outer Banks Seafood Festival Fund.