Comox Mayor Paul Ives shows off his oyster shucking skills at the 2016 BC Shellfish and Seafood Festival. (Photo by Terry Farrell)

Comox Mayor Paul Ives shows off his oyster shucking skills at the 2016 BC Shellfish and Seafood Festival. (Photo by Terry Farrell)

BC Seafood Festival competition line-up announced for Island event

Top Vancouver chefs heading to the Island for the largest seafood festival in Western Canada

  • May. 23, 2018 12:00 a.m.

Top international and local celebrity chefs and oyster shuckers will be leveraging their skills and swagger to win top prizes and epic bragging rights at a myriad of cooking competitions during the BC Seafood Festival Signature Weekend, June 15 to 17, in the Comox Valley.

Ticketholders will sample and savour the freshest seafood while enjoying featured B.C .wines, ciders and live music performances along with festival competitions.

Fun for the entire family, the BC Seafood Festival Signature Weekend 2018 offers up new seafood competitions combined with events and celebrations including chef demonstrations, award-winning shellfish and seafood tastings, and the largest Kids Interactive Zone featuring the Vancouver Aquarium AquaVan.

The BC Seafood Festival is unveiling an extensive line up of competitions to ignite the passion and ingenuity of chef and seafood competitors while providing festival participants with a front row seat to the action on festival stages throughout the weekend.

FortisBC BC Seafood Festival Chef Competition

Featuring a fantastic line-up of past festival chefs who will duke it out in black-box heats to present the most unique and scrumptious B.C. seafood dishes to a group of discerning judges. The top prize will be $5,000 and second place $1,500, thanks to generous sponsorship by FortisBC. All of the cooking equipment is being proudly provided by Garland Canada.

Fanny Bay Oysters Shucking Championship – June 16

Guinness Book of World Record Holder, Shucker Paddy, returns to host some of the fastest shuckers in British Columbia to compete for the top prize of an all-expense paid trip to compete in the PEI Shellfish Festival Raspberry Point Shucking Championship. Seeing is believing in this ‘must-attend’ event.

Ocean Wise Chowder Challenge – June 17

Restaurants and their seafood-loving chefs serve up the best sustainable seafood chowder for a chance to win an OceanWise annual membership and attendance to the big leagues of chowder competitions, the Vancouver OceanWise Chowder Chowdown.

For more information and ticket prices, visit bcseafoodfestival.com.

Abbotsford News