Since 1967, the Rotary Club of Lexington Park has hosted the festival, complete with oyster cook-offs and cooking demonstrations, crafts and carnival rides, even a glad-handing King Oyster.

The two-day event dominates the St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds on the third weekend in October, with approximately 23,000 visitors in an average year. It’s one of the rotary’s main fundraisers, supporting local charities and drawing tourists to southern Maryland for what has always been one of our most important local treasures.

It’s also home to the National Oyster Shucking Championship Contest.

Each year, professional and hobbyist shuckers from across the country gather for a fast-paced contest. In it, women compete against women, men compete against men, and everybody competes against the unforgiving clock.

It’s not just speed that matters, though. After all, we shuck oysters to eat them. Presentation counts. Shuckers are penalized for each broken shell, cut oyster, or other faults, making it just as important to do it right as to do it fast.

The competition is tight. With many past winners returning each year, there is only a few seconds’ difference between a national champion and, well, that guy over there handing out his oysters to the audience and slinking off to grab a cold one to soften the sting of third place.

The men’s and women’s winners battle each other to win not just bragging rights, but a shot at being crowned International Champion at the International Oyster Opening Championship in Galway, Ireland. But although they’re the very best of the best, these elite shuckers still pass out oysters to the hungry crowd once the clock stops.

When you’re not watching the shucking competition, the festival offers a variety of local and regional musical performers, magicians, dance troupes, comedians, and other entertainment. There are also kid-friendly draws like carnival rides and a petting zoo.

And oysters. Lots of oysters.

Fried, steamed, scalded, grilled, in soups and stews and chowders, raw on the half-shell or tucked into a shooter, there are bivalves to please every fan—and you can even pick up a few pints of freshly shucked oysters to enjoy at home. It makes no sense on paper, but having a belly full of oysters at the festival really does make you want to buy a bunch more for later.

Oyster-cooking competitions and demonstrations and the annual festival cookbook provide plenty of new and innovative recipes. Or, since it’s a universally friendly crowd, you could just lean over and ask the person at the next picnic table what they’d do with extra oysters once they got them home. You’re almost guaranteed a quick, delicious recipe. Maybe you’ll score a bit of their funnel cake, too.

Of course, if you come to the festival more for the atmosphere than the oysters themselves, there are many less adventuresome culinary options to sample. Go ahead and order steamed shrimp, fried rockfish, or even a corn dog if you must. You may have to take a little gentle ribbing, but even hardcore oyster lovers understand a key fact: if you’re not eating oysters, there’s more left for me.

Actually, hon, since you’re just standing there, could you go pick me up another dozen, and maybe some saltines?

This year’s St. Mary’s County Oyster Festival takes place October 16-17 at the St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds in Leonardtown. For more information, visit www.usoysterfest.com.