Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - During the oyster eating contest at Mavor's Bistro & Bar in the Confederation Centre, two women in black evening dress and red, white and black boas were throwing down bivalves with the best of them. Irwin, the contest judge, was decked out in Anne of Green Gables' famous green dress and straw bonnet, plus ersatz red braids framing his wrap-around sunglasses. A woman from one of the cultural organizations polished off 107 oysters between swigs of red wine. And I knew, from the outset that Prince Edward Islanders: a) knew how to have fun; b) knew how to poke fun at themselves and; c) may truly have the world's most irresistible shellfish. So, d) I had to consider myself lucky to be here, especially during this particular weekend.

I was here for the annual PEI International Shellfish Festival, held each September to showcase the culinary delights of this, Canada's smallest but no less mighty province. Mighty, for it was here, in 1864, that the first conference was held which would ultimately result in the Canadian union.

PEIslanders claim the world's best shellfish, a function of the unique surrounding waters. They are shallow, warm, washed by Atlantic Canada's dramatic tides and far enough North to be clear of the pollution of other waters. Because of the aforementioned, shellfish here grow quickly and in great quantities, a shellfish eaters Nirvana. It is also why the seafood industry accounts for more than a quarter-billion Canadian dollars of the island's economy each year.

PEI National Park of Canada

The Shellfish Festival is not merely an event of local interest. Canada at large recognizes the natural resource it has here. On Day One of the festival CTV, one of the country's nationwide networks, was broadcasting a live remote from the deck at Peake's Quay, opposite the festival's main tent and just short of a beautiful marina bathed in morning sunlight. Austin Clement, a chef/instructor from The Culinary Institute of Canada, located just up the street, was cooking up a chowder for the TV host. It was a first tantalizing taste of the shellfish galore that lay ahead, including chowder contests, attracting world class chefs competing for thousands of dollars.

The festival was the idea of an Irish émigré named Liam Dolan, who is a restaurateur supreme and a man who obviously knows how to put puzzle pieces together, in this case governmental - on a number of levels - and private sector. Dolan was out and about throughout the festival projecting that sincere Irish sense of hospitality that seemed to inject itself on a grander scale throughout the festivities.

We were fiddled into the open ceremony by Richard Wood, a killer fiddler, whose command of the canon was extensive and energetic. On stage was the mayor, PEI's Member of Parliament and the province's premier, each of whom likened the event to the island's favorite winter pastime, the kitchen party, only about 8,000 guests bigger.

“Like every kitchen party, the more people the merrier,” said MP Shawn Murphy. Things got going officially with the traditional oyster toast: all participants on stage downing an oyster on the half shell in lieu of champagne. We were then free to roam about the tent and partake of the bounty ourselves. “Keep on Shucking,” the official T-shirts read and they weren't kidding.

Keep on Shuckin'

While I headed off to sample the fare at the booths, on stage, Cynthia MacLeod, a 19-year-old fiddler from Charlottetown, was belting out Celtic-based tunes and bouncing around with that energy that added a spring to the step of anyone under the big top with any kind music sense. Right in front of the stage, a little, freckle-faced red-headed girl was alternating between an Irish jig and step-dancing. “Her grandmother is 87 and she still step dances,” the young girl's mother told me.

The main attraction, however, was not on the stage but at the concessions around the perimeter of the tent. Here you could get freshly shucked oysters on the half shell, top them with traditional horseradish based sauce or zingy Frank's Red Hot sauce, then let the delectable morsels slide down your throat. PEI's world-famous mussels live up to their reputation, best eaten simply steamed, then dipped in drawn butter. You can't stop yourself; popcorn at the movies. There were cups of thick, white chowder with an assortment of shellfish along with PEI potatoes; or samples of lobster that melted in your mouth. Some booths were offering cookware bargains, two-for-one or special prices, including items from PEI-based Paderno, some of whose first-class cookware was being auctioned off from the stage for bids of $200 or more. For $25, you could buy a booklet that got you into the festival for the weekend and allowed you to sample all of the above.

Competing chefs

Among the highlights each day was the chowder contest, attracting more than a dozen chefs from throughout North America and judged by some of my colleagues in the media - all of whom had more experience at this than I could have mustered, especially since it was a matter of choosing a winner who would walk with $2,000. The chefs lined up in front of the stage and cooked away on individual burners, preparing chowdery concoctions that didn't look like anything I'd ever seen in even the better seafood restaurants. For example, one chef garnished his entry with a pastry oyster shell, molded in a real oyster shell, in the center of which was a poached oyster and a small cocktail onion representing the pearl. The judges, however, were only marginally impressed by presentation. The proof, in each case, was in the tasting. (Fortunately, the aforementioned entry tasted wonderfully as well.)

At the PEI International Shellfish Challenge, held at The Culinary Institute, chefs once again from all over North America competed for a $10,000 prize, this time with a full service, from appetizer to dessert. To work with, they were each given a “black box” containing: oysters, quahogs, clams, mussels, scallops, live lobsters and live crabs, fennel bulbs, grapefruit, chanterelle mushrooms and one vanilla bean. Each competitor had to use four of the six seafood products and all of the non-seafood elements. They could also draw from a pantry of items that included a standard inventory of herbs, vegetables, fruits, condiments and so on. Second prize was $2,000; third $500. The winner was Alex Chen of the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. His creation included an appetizer called “Oysters and Pearls,” with avocado, lemon emulsion, rock crab salad, grapefruit sabayon, fennel puree; an entrée called “Study in Seafood,” including boudin of lobster and scallop, clams and bacon flan, mussels and chanterelles Pithivier and vanilla crustacean froth; and a dessert that included “Chocolate Three Ways,” mousse, creamsicle and ganache.

Chowder extraordinaire

To whom did Chen give credit for his culinary artistry? His mother, of course. “She was a great cook, a very bold lady. She kept trying things.”

Even if you are mad about shellfish, there is definitely the danger of ODing here. Fortunately, there is more to Charlottetown beyond the tent and more to PEI beyond Charlottetown. Walking the streets even just a few blocks from the festivities, you will find shops selling artwork and crafts. Everywhere there is evidence of “Anne of Green Gables,” the lovely young girl story, which was born in PEI of the creative spirit of author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne dolls are in many shops. There is even a shop devoted to Anne exclusively, The Anne of Green Gables Store. At the Confederation Centre, “Anne of Green Gables - The Musical,” has entertained audiences for more than 40 years, Canada's longest running show.

If you'd like to indulge your taste for something other than shellfish, or just want to take a break from the festivities for part of one of the days - Saturday specifically - check out the Charlottetown Farmers Market, which generally attracts more than 2,000 people through its doors on Belvedere Avenue, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. It's open throughout the year and offers a range of products from crops to yes seafood, but also meats, deli fare, baked goods, potted plants, even crafts and woven items.

Out of town, you get into the lovely countryside of PEI, stretches of rolling green hills, forested woodlands and beautiful shorelines, ideal for driving about, biking, hiking, walking and bird-watching. Prince Edward Island National Park of Canada, along the north shore is one of the most magnificent, dune-strewn beaches you'll find anywhere. From the informative center at Greenwich, you can take a boardwalk passed forests, wetlands, sandstone cliffs and dunes to a windswept sea with sweeping vistas. The winds work the dunes in parabolic waves, incessantly redefining them in an incredible example of nature's artwork.

Victoria

For a wonderful example of small town PEI, visit Victoria on the island's south shore. Here you will find small inns, lovely restaurants, gift shops (even one devoted to nothing but weather), a chocolate shop where you get newly made pieces that will have you smacking your lips and insisting on another, and a small theatre that just feels like the right place to see a play.

You can arrive in PEI by air or sea and even by car via the Confederation Bridge, almost eight miles over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence from New Brunswick.

Each year, PEI attracts a number of visitors almost 10 times its population of 140,000. Clearly visitors have concluded what the natives have always known: this is simply a great place to be. And, if shellfish is something you can get into, September is the time to go.