36th Arcata Bay Oyster Festival Seeks Volunteers to Sort, Compost, and Keep the Party Clean
Press release from the Arcata Chamber of Commerce:
The 35th Annual Arcata Bay Oyster Festival made waves last year, not just with delectable oysters and one-of-a-kind community energy, but with a deep dedication to sustainability and waste reduction. Thanks to a partnership between the Arcata Chamber of Commerce and Bright and Green, the 2025 festival diverted 85% of the waste from going into landfills, which set a new standard for low-waste event planning.
Last year, over 14,000 attendees celebrated on the Arcata Plaza, where 32 food vendors (this includes 14 oyster booths) and 55 art and nonprofit booths joined the effort to minimize landfill impact. Waste was carefully sorted and routed thanks to early planning, coordinated outreach, and community-driven volunteer efforts.
Festival Waste Diversion Data
- 3,780 lbs composted – including oyster shells, food scraps, and compostable paper. THANK YOU, LOCAL WORM GUY!
- 600 lbs CRV containers – aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage materials ● 160 lbs of mixed recycling
- 800 lbs of landfill trash
- Estimated Total Diversion Rate: 85%
The achievement was made possible by generous community support, including partnerships with Coast Central Credit Union, The Local Worm Guy, PacOut Green Team, Team Indigo, Recology, and Hambro Recycling.
Bright and Green is looking for more “Trash Talkers” volunteers for this year’s Oyster Fest happening on June 13th from 10 am to 5 pm! To keep this event as waste-free as possible, your help is needed! Please check out this form to learn about some of the ways you can volunteer with Bright and Green this year.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B49AFAF28A2FACE9-62860662-oyster#/
If you can bring 5–10 people or cover 20 hours, your group will receive $150 plus perks like drink tokens and a meal.
The Arcata Chamber of Commerce looks forward to building on this momentum in 2026 and continuing to model what sustainable celebration can look like!
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected], and we’ll see you on the Arcata Plaza on June 13th for the 36th Annual Arcata Bay Oyster Festival.
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Cool! So I only gotta talk 5 suckers into volunteering “for the community” for free and I get $150? That might work…
No, no , no. You can get paid $7/hour and maybe get a beer and a meal to pick through garbage for a huge event that is too cheap to pay people a decent wage
Yeah how does this organization get away with paying people some money, but less than minimum wage?
I thought you had to either volunteer or you were a paid employee
I’m really surprised they are having Oyster Fest this year, after the report about sewage in the oyster beds.
I hope the local hospitals are on standby.
Sewage and Humboldt have long been synonymous. As for the local hospitals, rest assured, their concern for the wellbeing of the community on any day is minimal at best. Their concern for profit on any day is maximalist.