The NC Seafood Festival, held the first full weekend in October since 1987 on the Morehead City waterfront and free to the public, promises to be a fun-filled event with food, entertainment, kids’ activities, vendors, and artisans – while educating the public, promoting the seafood industry in North Carolina, and honoring the commercial fishing fleet that brings fish and shellfish to our tables, markets and restaurants.

The largest three-day festival in North Carolina, according to Visit NC, an economic development partnership in North Carolina, and ranked nationally in the top 200 “Must See” festivals by the International Festivals & Events Association, The NC Seafood Festival’s 40th annual event will be held October 2-4, 2026. Over the festival weekend, the festival will entertain an estimated 150,000 visitors; host more than 200 artisan and commercial vendors, seafood vendors featuring fresh, locally caught North Carolina Seafood and other NC produced food and beverage products; and provide children’s games and rides, cooking demonstrations and tastings, and two musical stages.

From traditional seafood fare to the more exotic – all will be available for attendees to sample during the festival. No one should go away hungry!

Festival goers will find familiar and new seafood delights at dozens of booths sponsored by restaurants, civic organizations, school groups and churches, all featuring their own interpretation of the best North Carolina has to offer from the bounty of the sea.

In addition, cooking demonstrations will be held throughout the weekend at both the Got to be NC Seafood Cooking Stage and the Ararmark Cooking Stage on the Big Rock Deck. Highlighted is an endless variety of seafood prepared in multiple ways.