Oysterfest

I’ve never written a negative review, but this was absolutely the worst «festival» I’ve ever attended. As others mentioned, $ 50/​ticket gets you nothing but entry. And upon entering? …
Oysters are shipped in from New England. We’re miles away from some of the best oysters in the world and the organizers ship the oysters 3,000 miles across the country from New England??? And as if the oysters haven’t sat around long enough, by the time you get through the massive lines your oysters are warm. Nothing says worth the wait like warm, raw, oysters … shipped in all the way from New England. Couldn’t even manage to take down 3 of the 2 dozen I bought. Gigantic waste of money.
The beer selection? Guinness brand stuff only. No Lagunitas, no 21^st Amendment, no Anchor, not even a Sierra Nevada to be found. Nothing local. No, for $ 50 entry, you have access to New England oysters … and stuff by Guinness.
The entertainment? As you watch the bands while waiting in line (s), you’ll see Warren G doing karaōke to some of his tracks (he may even sing along to some of Snoop’s lines — also audible in the karaōke tracks), you’ll see some people sucking down oysters in a how-​many-​can-​you-​eat-​in-​10-​minutes competition. If you wait long enough, you may see Thievery Corp. (though I doubt they’ll return, since only about 100 people stayed for their set, the rest having already fled to salvage their Saturday)
You know those cheapo «festivals» where they’ve got the alligator, po-​boy and fries stands, henna tattoo stations, knock-​off sports team merchandise, and cheap «art»? Yep, that’s all here too.
Do yourself a favor, save your money.

Not a food value prop neither the music nor food are worth the crowd can’t see how it had gone this far definitely not worth the time or money

This is hands down the worst festival I have ever attended. 18 for ½ dozen oysters and 36 $ for a dozen and you’re paying 50 $ to attend the event?! Are you guys insane? I can go a couple blocks away for $ 1 oysters. The only incentive you get is the mediocre music they play. Immediately I walked in and asked what my 50 $ was paying for. Plates are small for all the other food booths. We are in a drought and they dump your water out before you can walk in. Give it a sniff if you’re concerned about people bringing in alcohol. Never will I ever again, and you shouldn’t either!

I am sure there is a universe in which Oysterfest makes sense and is not a scam. I have not, however, lived in such a universe.
In terms of food and drink, your $ 50 entry ticket buys you nothing. Let me say that again: NOTHING. A friend invited me to this and sounded excited about it. The ad said it was a combination of oysters and stouts, both of which I love! So when I saw it cost $ 50 to enter, I was like sure, why not, probably includes some oyster tasting and maybe even stout. Surely, no one in SF would pay for nothing, right?
About those oysters. There are ALMOST NO OYSTERS. Now, compared to the literal nothing the ticket buys you, this is actually some really great news. Except that you have to wait in insanely long lines (1 hour or more) just to find out that there are no oysters left. Which might be OK, because you can walk to one of the food trucks there (which BTW you can visit at Soma Streatfood or Off the Grid anyway) and buy food from them. Food without oysters.
Which brings me to the next point: there is NOTHING SPECIAL about the food or drink. There’s no «festival magic oyster» you have to try because there is nothing special about the food. In fact, the only vendor selling raw oysters there (at insane markup, mind you) advertised its own address IN SAN FRANCISCO on its big sign. So you can either visit them in this very city on a regular business day, or wait in a line for an hour just to learn they ran out of oysters, at Oysterfest.
Oh wait, there was something in the advertisement I saw about an oyster eating contest. So maybe this really was an oyster-​centric event? I’m not really a competitive eater type, but I might have enjoyed watching this go down. Except that I couldn’t because I had to walk all the way around the venue to find the one allowed entrance to the event while listening to the announcer hype the contest.
Anyway, did I mention the LINES? (OK, yes, I know I did.) This is a paid entry event, not a Red Cross disaster relief food line. You shouldn’t have to wait in hourlong lines just to pay more money for food at an event NAMED after the food. By the way, charities that serve people in need are wonderful and I wish I had just donated $ 50 to one instead of attending Oysterfest.
Oh, right, there is something your ticket buys you: music! There was a random assortment of 90s artists including Warren G that performed bare bones versions of their work. No complaints there. Except that this event was called motherf*cking OYSTERfest not FiftydollarNinetiesBareBonesPerformanceFest.
I’ve contacted them to see if I can secure a refund. I will give 100% of any refund to a food charity.

Loooong lines. Food is unworthy of touching my mouth. Go to swan oyster depot for the real deal. One star for the music.

Not much of an oysterfest when there’s only one kind of oyster. Overpriced and besides the forecast for this weekend = RAIN

I’ve lived in the Marina area for 4 years now and have gone to the past 4 Oysterfests. Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Michael Franti, Cake. But this year, I am very impressed with headliners Rodrigo Y Gabriella (including Pepper and Guster), who I last saw at Outside Lands… killing it! The Great Meadow @ Fort Mason setting is always ridicoulously beautiful because you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, The ocean, drinking music, and cute people in beautiful weather. My friends and I have realized the best way to do it is to walk or cab over early to avoid the lines cuz it is a festival and lots of people are there to eat, drink and have a shucking great time!
Just grabbed a grip on tickets from their website. See you there!