Events

Presented by the non-profit Ocracoke Island Decoy Carvers Guild, this annual event draws decoy carvers and collectors in celebration of a time-honored art. Attendees can also enjoy food, raffles, kids decoy painting sessions, and a decoy head carving contest.

This ceremony and reception commemorate the sinking of the H.M.T. Bedfordshire off the coast of Ocracoke Island in 1942. Four sailors from the Bedfordshire are buried on the island in a small plot of land that is “forever England.” Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, British Royal Navy, and Canadian Royal Navy, as well as Ocracoke High School students participate in the ceremony, which includes a reading of the crew list, the playing of bagpipes, and a 21-gun salute. The event is open to all who wish to pay their respects.

Presented by Ocracoke Alive, this three-day festival celebrates music, storytelling, and artisans from the North Carolina coastal region and beyond. Wander the festival grounds for delicious food from local restaurants and an amazing selection of fine arts and crafts.

Our Independence Day festivities kick off July 3 with a firework show over Silver Lake. The fun continues July 4 with a sand sculpture contest, a scavenger hunt, a traditional hometown parade, and a community beach bonfire. Check here for the Schedule of Events.

Learn about Ocracoke’s fig history and culture while enjoying old-fashioned crafts and games. Local vendors provide fresh figs, fig preserves, local cookbooks, fig-smoked BBQ, and other fig-tastic items. Everyone is welcome to submit a cake to the Fig Cake Bake-Off. A panel of judges chooses the winners with free samples for everyone after the contest. Special guest chef and TV personality Vivian Howard will be the festival’s special guest at the Savory Side of Figs Dinner on August 5th.

Sell, buy, browse—or do all three—at the Ocracoke Island-Wide Yard Sale. Admission is free. Saturday, September 18, 2021, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Rain date September 19, 2021.

Come celebrate Ocracoke’s unique pirate history with a weekend of swashbuckling fun. The Jamboree features an historically-accurate pirate encampment and a reenactment of the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s last battle. Interactive living history exhibits, sea chanteys, music, and a shopping marketplace of seafaring fine arts and wares provide entertainment for all ages. The event culminates when pirate and militia crews march to Springer’s Point to honor those killed in Blackbeard’s last battle with a eulogy, hymns, and final cannon salute.

Join us for a Runfest that includes a half marathon, 5K and 10K races, and a one-mile family fun run. The races take place in village through historic roads, by Ocracoke Harbor, and by the second oldest lighthouse in the nation. Each participant receives a t-shirt and a finisher medal. The top three male and female contestants of each category receive an award. Sign up here.

The annual 5K Turkey Trot on Ocracoke Island takes place Thanksgiving morning. Get together with family, friends, and fellow runners, burn some calories, and have fun before the Thanksgiving feast!

Ring in the holidays island-style with this seasonal parade that takes place on Silver Lake Harbor.

Do your local holiday shopping and support Ocracoke Island’s local businesses, bring the kids out for some holiday gift-making, or spend an afternoon with friends sampling products from local shops.

Sponsored by Ocracoke Alive, the Festival Latino de Ocracoke celebrates traditional Mexican foods, games, arts, and dance.

Ocracoke Preservation Society continues its holiday tradition of welcoming guests into a special selection of homes in Ocracoke’s National Historic District (with the homeowners’ permission, of course). The tour features cottages that include some of the oldest surviving structures on the island.

By far our most popular December event, the annual Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association Oyster Roast & Shrimp Boil brings hundreds of eager seafood lovers to the island to line up at makeshift tables in the bright winter sunshine to shuck oysters, peel ‘n’ eat shrimp, and slurp fish stew, washed down with cold beverages. Dessert is offered at the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Exhibit in the Community Square. All are welcome.