An Evening with the Falmouth Oystermen

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An Evening with the Falmouth Oystermen took place on Wednesday 7 October 2026 at St Michaels Resort & Spa, in association with Veuve Clicquot. Hosted by Nigel Carpenter, Chairman of St Michaels Resort & Spa, this Falmouth Oystermen event opened Falmouth Oyster Festival 2026 and brought guests 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 began at 6:30pm and tickets were £25 per person.

It 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 8 to 11 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, with some of the oldest dating back as far as 1860. In the 1840s, when oysters grew scarce elsewhere in England, 150 to 200 boats could be seen working the fishery on a fine day. 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

Guests arrived to a complimentary glass of wine, as live music from Toby Webb opened 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 Carpenter, Chairman of St Michaels Resort & Spa, then gives a talk. Finally, the oystermen serve their oysters, just as they come, with the last wine. 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.

Make a weekend of it

Explore our Falmouth Oyster Festival 2026 guide to discover what happened across the four days.

As the festival’s exclusive hotel partner, St Michaels Resort & Spa sits beside Gyllyngvase Beach, within easy reach of the festival celebrations, and overnight stays were available through our Oyster Festival stay package. That package has now passed, so take a look at our current offers for your next stay.