Press Release
New for 2018! Fig Festival tees with artwork by Manda Holden.
New for 2018! Fig Festival tees with artwork by Manda Holden.
Ocracoke Fig Festival celebrates the island’s sweetest tradition.

This free family-friendly event moves to a new location on the grounds of the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum on August 17-18,

Ocracoke, North Carolina – August 6, 2018 – The Ocracoke community will celebrate the summer’s fig bounty with a fig cake bake-off, live music, dancing, and more! 

The 5th annual Fig Festival kicks off Friday evening with live music by Molasses Creek and a Fig Preserves Tasting Contest. The traditional Ocracoke Square Dance is easy to learn and fun for all ages. Everyone loves to "Dive for the Oyster" and "Dig for the Clam"!

Saturday features live music, activities and crafts for children, and vendor booths offering fig preserves, fig cakes, fig trees, local cookbooks, and other fig-tastic items from 10am–4pm.Local fig expert and author Chester Lynn will give an informative talk about Ocracoke’s fig history and culture.

Buy a Fig Preserves tasting ticket for $3 Friday night and vote for your favorite!
Buy a Fig Preserves tasting ticket for $3 Friday night and vote for your favorite!

The showpiece of the Fig Festival is the Fig Cake Bake-Off on Saturday afternoon. All are welcome to submit a cake in one or both categories, Traditional or Innovative. New this year is the Fig Kids category – entrants must be 16 or younger, and can enter any fig-based food item. 

“We want to encourage Ocracoke’s younger generation to appreciate the figs and get involved in the Bake-Off,” said the Fig Festival’s coordinator, Sundae Horn. "The Traditional category is limited to the old-fashioned recipe, available in local cookbooks. Even using the same recipe, there are subtle differences: the type of fig preserves used, the delicate balance of spices, or the cook’s magic touch. The Innovative Category is amazing – each entry is so different!”

The judges will choose their favorites based on measures of Presentation, Traditional/Innovative Flavors, and “Figgy-ness.” WOVV 90.1 FM will host onsite with a live broadcast (listen online at wovv.org). Best of all? Free samples for spectators after the judging!  

Bring your dancing shoes (or bare feet in true Ocracoke-style) for the evening’s fun at the Berkley Barn, across the street from the OPS Museum. Beer, wine, and soft drinks will be available to purchase while you listen to Martin Garrish & Friends (6–7pm acoustic jazz; 7–8pm country music) and dance to the Ocracoke Rockers (8-11pm)! All ages welcome!

During the week of the Fig Festival, island restaurants will offer fig-infused menu items both savory and sweet. Local shops will stock this year’s selection of fig preserves, so you can take some Ocracoke sweetness home with you.

It's a Fig-for-all!
It's a Fig-for-all!

The Ocracoke Fig Festival is sponsored by Ocracoke Preservation Society. For more information, contact Sundae Horn (252-921-0283) or Andrea Powers (252-928-7375).

2018 Fig Festival Schedule of Events

Friday August 17th

6–8pm on the grounds at the OPS Museum @ OPS:

Concert with Molasses Creek 

Traditional Ocracoke Square Dance

Ocracoke Figs Porch Talk with Chester Lynn

Fig Preserves Tasting Contest

Fig Tamales 

Saturday August 18th:

Daytime events take place on the grounds at the OPS Museum:

10am–3pm: Bring Fig Cake Bake-Off entries to OPS Museum

It's a Fig Deal

10am–4pm: Figtastic Vendor Booths: Fig cakes, fig preserves, fig art, fig everything!

10am–4pm: OPS Museum and Gift Shop open

10am: Porch Talk & Book Signing with Jeanie Owens and Della Gaskill

11am: Live music with Kate McNally

11am-3pm: Figgy tie-dye for kids with Kim Hanson

Noon: Live music performances with Ocracoke Kids 

1pm: Live music with Molasses Creek

1pm: Storytelling for kids with Bill Jones aboard the Blanche

2pm: Kids Create-A-Craft 

2pm: Live music with Coyote

3pm: Porch Talk & Book Signing with Chester Lynn

3pm: Fig Cakes on Display

4pm: Judging (Listen live on WOVV 90.1FM)

5pm: Awards Ceremony & Fig-For-All – sharing of the fig cakes

Evening events take place at the Berkley Barn across the street from the OPS Museum

Beer, wine, and soft drinks available for purchase

6pm: Acoustic jazz with Martin Garrish & Friends

7pm: Fig Cake Bake-Off Awards/Announcements

7pm: Country music with Martin Garrish & Friends

8pm: Dance with the Ocracoke Rockers