Big names flock to oyster festival

A STAR studded line-up for the 2026 Stranraer Oyster Festival has been revealed.

Top celebrity chefs including the festival’s Chef Ambassador Tony Singh comes back for his sixth appearance. He is joined by BBC Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt, national treasure Rosemary Shrager, and Scottish Malaysian chef and TV presenter Julie Lin.

They’ll be joined by Outlander star Sam Heughan, who headlines a flagship Sunday afternoon event celebrating his home region.

The actor will host Spirit of Galloway, an unhurried two-hour Sunday afternoon session combining conversation, signature cocktails and dishes from chefs Rosemary Shrager and Julie Lin, inspired by the produce of Galloway’s landscape and coastline.

Also making a return are Stranraer’s own Ryan McCutcheon, David Alexander, Helen Cross and Douglas and Massimo Lisi.

Joining them are Tony Pierce, recently retired from Knockinaam Lodge after more than 25 years, and Noby Leong, a scientist and rising podcast star who came to the 2025 festival as a visitor and fell in love with it.

Romano Petrucci, of Stranraer Development Trust, said: “We are of course thrilled to be welcoming Sam Heughan to Stranraer for an event that is designed to showcase the very best of Galloway, our shared home region. And the fact that every single celebrity chef from last year wanted to return tells you something profound about the festival Stranraer has created. These are people at the very top of their profession, several of them household names, they could be anywhere in the world, and they’re choosing to be in Stranraer to celebrate our community and our very special Loch Ryan oysters.

“We’re announcing the celebrity chef line-up early this year so that festival-goers can plan well in advance. An expanded wider festival programme, all the events, activities and live music that are included as part of the festival admission, will be announced in June, and we’re every bit as excited about that as we are about the celebrity line-up. “The community heart of this festival has always been what makes it special.”