It’s very fitting that the Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival kicks off in February, the month of love, because wow, do I love that festival! For a phenomenal week each year, the festival brings together talented chefs, beautiful venues, and quality ingredients, all while raising money for local nonprofit organizations. It’s a culmination of things that I love: Hilton Head, fresh seafood, live music, and sunsets by the ocean with a little BravoTV sprinkled in the mix.
Back in 2022, my first Seafood Festival experience was with May River Excursions for an interactive tour to learn about locally harvested seafood. Together, our group explored local waterways to learn how to cast a net to pursue live shrimp, how wild oysters are grown, and all about catching blue crabs.
After we collected the feisty crabs from submerged traps, we headed back to Hudson’s where we all enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch (including our freshly caught crabs!) on the dock together. There is something very special about dining al fresco on a warm and sunny February day. Even though I grew up picking oysters for my dad, I never actually enjoyed eating an oyster until this lunch. They were so fresh, so cold, so briny and so delicious. I am grateful for that Seafood Festival experience because it’s the reason I became an oyster lover.
The Shell Ring String Band performed at the 2025 Pig Pickin’ and Oyster Roast
While volunteering at my second Seafood Festival, I got to meet Chef Brother Luck, a James Beard Award nominee featured on Top Chef: Colorado and Top Chef: Kentucky on BravoTV. During his outdoor demonstration at the South Carolina Yacht Club, he made gumbo for the guests while sharing stories of starting a restaurant, writing his book, and his experience with being on television. His gumbo was so rich, velvety, and delicious. As an avid BravoTV fan, I have watched every season of Top Chef. It made my heart happy to have a Top Chef contestant at Hilton Head, next to a beautiful marina, teaching people how to make gumbo on a sunny winter day.
This was also the year I got to experience – and fall in love with – the Pig Pickin’ and Oyster Roast. Held on Friday night each year, this all-inclusive event is full of tasty pork bites, freshly roasted oysters, an abundance of adult beverages, and live music to set the vibe for a Lowcountry evening. Pitmaster Marvin Ross’s whole roasted pig was the star of the show. As a fifth-generation farmer at Peculiar Pig Farm in Dorchester, Ross brought his farming and chef talents to Hilton Head that night with a perfectly smoked hog.
Chef Tim Nelson talks to guests at the 2025 Pig Pickin’ and Oyster Roast, held at Honey Horn.
Another star dish of the night, a pork belly corn dog, was quite delicious. Created by Chef Tim Nelson, the lollipops were made from tender pork belly, battered up, and fried to crispy perfection, then served with a homemade honey mustard dipping sauce. Every time I see Chef Tim, I tell him how much I loved those pork pops.
For my next Seafood Festival, in 2024, I volunteered at the Omni Hotel for Zero Forks Given. Held outdoors at sunset, this event featured delicious seafood-focused small plates that require no forks to consume. Here, I met Nini Nguyen from Top Chef: Kentucky and Top Chef: All-Stars L.A., who was serving hot, fire roasted oysters on the half shell. We talked about our shared love of Vietnamese spring rolls that are featured in her latest cookbook. I might have fangirled a bit.
Last year’s festival events took culinary experiences to a new level for me. At Zero Forks Given, Chef Molly Cook from Marble & Steel Craft Chocolates stunned guests with her talents. Her chocolate treats looked like shiny gemstones you’d wear on a ring finger, not something you’d eat. Shell Ring Oyster Company also wowed us all with spicy oysters on the half shell, topped with jalapeno horseradish sauce and crunchy pork rinds topped with pickled jalapeno. Even though the temps were chilly, eating just a few of those spicy oysters warmed me right up!
CH2 writer Brooke Peck and Rebecca Tompkins enjoy themselves at last year’s festival.
The next day, during the Master Chef demonstrations, the Seafood Fest impressed us all by offering a knife skills class, a caviar and champagne tasting, and a soy sauce educational class. I had no idea that soy sauces could have flavor besides saltiness!
Thanks to a presentation from Bourbon Barrel Foods, we sampled four soy sauces, all aged in bourbon barrels, and paired them with a bento box of delicious proteins and produce. It was inspiring to hear about the company’s humble start to now having almost 100 specialty food products, all created adjacent to the bourbon industry of Kentucky.
That evening, at the Pig Pickin’ and Oyster Roast, guests were blown away seeing a huge cow leg being fire roasted for everyone to sample. We got to hear from the beef farmer at Black Hawk Farms and understand the passion the company has for raising American Wagyu beef in Kentucky. My BravoTV fandom was excited to meet another BravoTV celebrity, Shep Rose, a Hilton Head native who has starred on 11 seasons of Southern Charm, based in Charleston.
An egg centric dish at Kegs + Eggs
The number of food vendors at last year’s main event festival was quite impressive. Seafood lovers were especially excited to enjoy lobster rolls, Lowcountry jambalaya, raw oysters and clams, tuna poke bowls, deviled crabs, clam chowder, freshly steamed oysters, and shrimp burgers. Lots of non-seafood options were available too, including barbecue options, huevos rancheros, smash burgers, chicken and sausage gumbo, and banana cornmeal pancakes. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans headlined the event, bringing Mardi Gras energy to Hilton Head to keep us all moving and grooving, which I loved!
The tasting tent was also a big hit. Featuring more than 20 spirits brands, the tent allows festival goers to sample a wide variety of mixed drinks with various alcohol brands. Some of my favorites included the Drunken Pirate, made with Extra Special Dark Rum from Hilton Head Distillery, and the refreshing Bulrush Blood Orange Collins from Bulrush Gin.
One of the sweet treats served up at the Kegs+ Eggs event last year, which was held at Lincoln & South Brewing Company.
This year’s festival kicks off February 23 and continues through March 1. It promises to be another wonderful year. From water excursions, a brewery talk, family fishing, and intimate dinners to a big festival, the week-long event offers something for everyone and every budget.
The 2026 lineup features a new event, Uncommon Cuts, held at Chez Georges with a curated menu packed with rare cuts of protein to delight and surprise carnivore diners. Chef Marcus Samuelsson, who has appeared on Top Chef Masters, Chopped, and Iron Chef America, is a featured chef at this year’s master classes, along with Emmy Award winner Chef Kardea Brown of Food Network fame.
The main event, the Saturday Seafood Festival, takes place from 1 to 5 p.m. February 28 at Honey Horn. Entry tickets include celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, the Gullah Celebration’s 30th Anniversary Village Experience, and live music from Yacht Club. Food, drinks, kids’ activities, and vendors wares are all available at an additional cost.
Visit hiltonheadseafoodfestival.com to learn more and purchase tickets. All proceeds raised from the festival go to support the David M. Carmines Memorial Foundation, which contributes to a wide range of Lowcountry nonprofits each year.
Freshly shucked Shell Ring Oysters
