21st annual event features seafood, live music, family activities along Paris Avenue
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Soft shell crab season along the South Carolina coast is brief and closely watched. In Port Royal, its arrival is marked each spring with a one-day festival that has become a fixture along Paris Avenue.
The 21st annual Soft Shell Crab Festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is organized by the Old Village Association and is free and open to the public.
At its core, the festival centers on a product that is only available for a limited time. Soft shell crabs are blue crabs that have recently molted, leaving their shells soft enough to be eaten whole.
That process is driven by seasonal conditions, which typically make the crabs available for only a few weeks each year.
Paris Avenue will be closed to traffic as vendors line the street and extend toward the waterfront, where the smell of seafood and the sound of live music tend to carry from one end of the festival to the other.
Seafood vendors will anchor the event, with soft shell crab dishes featured alongside other food options, as well as arts and craft booths.
Live music will run throughout the day, with David Laughin scheduled to perform from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., followed by Killin Quaid from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Additional activities include a classic car show and a motorcycle display hosted by Bikers Against Bullies.
Family-oriented attractions such as bounce houses and face painting will also be available. Organizers note that pets are not permitted within the festival footprint.
Parking in and around Port Royal will be limited, and attendees should expect congestion throughout the day.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.