Fig-Tastic!

UNC-TV personality Bob Garner will preside over this free family-friendly event when the Ocracoke community celebrates the summer’s fig bounty with a fig cake bake-off, live music, dancing, and more!

The second annual Fig Festival in the historic Community Square will begin with vendor booths offering fresh figs, fig preserves, local cookbooks, and other fig-tastic items. For kids, there’ll be face painting and crafts. Local fig expert Chester Lynn will give an informative talk about Ocracoke’s fig history and culture, and North Carolina food connoisseur Bob Garner will sign copies of his book, Foods That Make You Say Mmm-mmm, about the traditions, venues, and recipes of North Carolina’s most famous tastes – including Ocracoke Fig Cake!

The showpiece of the Fig Festival is the Fig Cake Bake-Off. Calling all bakers! Everyone is welcome to submit a cake in one or both categories, Traditional or Innovative.

"The Traditional category is for the Old Ocracoke style recipe," said the Bake-Off's founder, Robin Payne. "This way we stay true to the purpose of the Bake-Off, which is honoring Ocracoke culture and a much-loved dessert. Innovative is just that. Anything goes as long as it has figs in it." 

The two panels of judges will choose their favorites based on measures of taste, texture, and figgy-ness. Ocracoke restaurateur Daphne Bennink will host onsite with a live broadcast on WOVV 90.1 FM (listen online at wovv.org) The Bake-Off winners take home a yard sign, a keepsake plaque, and a year’s worth of bragging rights. And the best part? Free samples for everyone after the contest!

Bring your dancing shoes (or bare feet in true Ocracoke-style) for the evening’s fun. The traditional Ocracoke square dance is not really a classic country-and-western square dance, said caller Philip Howard. “Its roots are in the circle dances that Ocracoke's settlers brought with them from the British Isles. And the steps are easy to learn and fun for all ages,” he said. Everyone loves to "Dive for the Oyster" and "Dig for the Clam"!

Watch the beautiful sunset from the Community Square docks as the Ocracoke Rockers take the stage to play classic dance music and rock-n-roll until long after dark.

The Ocracoke Fig Festival is sponsored by Ocracoke Civic and Business Association.

A schedule of events and a sample fig cake recipe can be found at www.ocracokevillage.com.