A new section, aptly named "open and eat" was won by Keith Gillies, who narrowly beat his wife, Sarah, in the final.
Mr Gillies said he and his wife had travelled to Bluff for oysters for years but had never been to the oyster festival.
The crowd was asked for volunteers for the competition and with free oysters on offer, it was too good an opportunity to miss, Mr Gillies said. They competed against eight others to open and eat half a dozen oysters.
"We've been down [in Bluff] getting and eating oysters for years so I'm pretty good at opening them. There were a couple of guys there who had never opened an oyster in their life."
The festival was the couple's "date weekend", and both agreed it was an excellent day.
"We both got up there and froze on the first oyster. The festival had a great crowd and good entertainment and we'll be back again next year," Mrs Gillies said.
Section overseer Alan Mitchell said Mr Gillies "only just" beat his wife in the new section.
