Virginia City to go nuts Saturday at 31st Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry, St. Paddy Parade
This year's festival once again unites daring revelers for a wild and outlandish day featuring plenty of cooked up and spiced to perfection, bull testicles, a Ball Breaker Saloon Crawl, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, costume contests and more. Festivities begin at 10 a.m.
Regional cooks compete for bragging rights by preparing their most innovative and, sometimes, outlandish recipes featuring oysters of the land variety. Tasters can purchase a sampler and select from grilled, smoked, fried or even oysters in a taco.
Join the Ball Breaker Saloon Crawl, touring our historic saloons and more with tasty libations and samples. Not to mention, it’s a great way to wash down those oysters! For a taste, see the video below.
This full-on Irish testicle festival is the place to be for St. Patrick’s Day, making it one of the largest celebrations in Nevada and the most outlandish atmosphere found west of the Mississippi. Join in the fun for the 2022 Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry.
Go here for tickets.
Known as the "Virginia City testicle festival" the Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry is one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in northern Nevada and draws thousands of partygoers up to the Comstock to partake in the delicacy, along with the Ball Breaker Saloon Crawl, a tour of the town’s many saloons featuring samples of themed adult beverages. The “land oysters” are served up in a variety of ways as cooks are competing for prizes and awards in multiple categories.
New this year, participating cooks receive $800 payment to produce 500 samples, plus $2 per sample beyond the minimum 500. Beyond just having a ball at this fan-favorite event, cooks can earn some cash and notoriety for their business.
“The Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry is one of the most fun events we have on the Comstock,” Deny Dotson, tourism director for Virginia City Tourism Commission, said. “The cooks always go all out and people look forward to it all year long. We have several cooking teams who have participated year after year, always coming up with something new and creative for our fans. We anticipate approximately 5,000 people to attend this year, which means great exposure for new restaurants or businesses looking to reach this northern Nevada audience.”
Rocky Mountain Oyster tastings begin at 10 a.m. At noon, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade marches down C Street, the town’s main drag, where the more outlandish outfit, the better. Tasting packages and saloon crawl tickets are available for purchase in advance online or onsite the day of the event, however those tasty oysters go fast so it is recommended to purchase in advance.
Tasting packages include the “Tasty Testes” to sample them all for $40, the Ball Breaker Saloon Crawl for $25, or go “Fully Monty” and get both for $55.