An Evening with the Falmouth Oystermen

An Evening with the Falmouth Oystermen takes place on Wednesday 7th October 2026 at In the Bay, St Michaels Resort, in association with Veuve Clicquot. Hosted by Nigel Carpenter, Chairman of St Michaels Resort & Spa, this Falmouth Oystermen event opens Falmouth Oyster Festival 2026 and brings you into the company of the oystermen themselves, the people who still work the waters of the Fal.

Expect an informal evening of oyster and wine tasting with St Austell Wines, with live music from Toby Webb, film and conversation. The evening begins at 6:30pm and tickets are £25 per person.

If you’ve been looking for an oyster tasting in Falmouth, this is a chance to taste native Fal oysters in the company of the people who bring them in, the evening before the main festival opens in Events Square from 8th to 11th October.

Meet the Falmouth Oystermen

For generations, the waters around Falmouth have been shaped by the tide, the wind and the work of the local oystermen. For more than a century, Cornish families have made their living from oyster dredging across the Carrick Roads and surrounding rivers.

Many of the boats are traditional Falmouth Working Boats, built in boatyards around the Fal, and some date back to the 1860s. Around 100 years ago, more than 130 oyster dredgers worked from Falmouth and St Mawes. Today, that heritage is still very much alive, and every October the town comes together at Falmouth Oyster Festival to celebrate the start of the native oyster season.

That’s the heart of the evening.

Through film and images, you’ll discover more about the oystermen’s history and the challenges they face today. Above all, this is an evening for good conversation, hearing the oystermen’s stories in their own words. Every oyster served in Falmouth has a story, and it belongs to the people who bring them in.

The evening: oyster tasting and wine with St Austell Wines 

You arrive to a complimentary glass of wine, as live music from Toby Webb opens the evening. 

Then take your seat for canapés and tasting, served at the table. Ruth from St Austell Wines talks you through each pairing, with every seafood canapé matched to one of four St Austell wines. 

Nigel, Chairman of St Michaels Resort, then gives a talk. Finally, the oystermen serve their oysters, just as they come, with the last wine, making this a wine and oyster tasting in Cornwall with the oystermen at its heart. There’s no formal dining or complicated tasting menu, just good company, great seafood and stories worth hearing. 

Relaxed, generous and distinctly Cornish, it’s a fitting way to begin four days celebrating Falmouth’s native oysters. 

Planning to make a weekend of it? Explore our Falmouth Oyster Festival 2026 guide to discover what’s happening across the four days. 

As the festival’s exclusive hotel partner, St Michaels Resort sits beside Gyllyngvase Beach, within easy reach of the festival celebrations.