Started in 1975, the Milford Oyster Festival has grown over the last 30 years into the largest one-day Festival in Connecticut that attracts over 50,000 people a year.  It attracts people from the area and around the state who want to enjoy the sights, sounds, tastes and history of Milford at a family-oriented Festival.  Designed to raise money for, and bring awareness to the local non-profit organizations through a Festival that celebrates the important history the oyster industry once had on the City of Milford.

Today there are many facets of the Festival which include various high caliber entertainment acts seen free of charge, over 200 arts and crafts vendors from around the country, our non-profit area that brings awareness to the local non-profit organizations which include many civic, health and environmental groups, a "Main Street" area which helps to promote the local small and medium-sized businesses, children's amusement rides and games, classic car show, canoe races and tremendous food offered by many local non-profit civic organizations to help raise money for each of their causes.

In addition to many of these areas and the wonderful family-oriented atmosphere at the Festival, the amount of money and awareness that is generated by the local non-profit and civic organizations that participate in the Festival is often overlooked.  There are over 50 local non-profits that are a part of the Festival every year (see list below) and nearly all of them join year after year.  For many of these non-profit organizations, the Festival is their primary fundraiser for the year and allows them the ability to meet their budgets and fund each of their charitable causes.  To describe the extent to which these causes are fulfilled as a result of the money they raise at the Festival is beyond the scope of this proposal, but rest assured it is more far reaching than most realize.

As a non-profit organization ourselves, the Annual Milford Oyster Festival, Inc., donates money to many local charities and organizations every year.  Over the last few years, the Annual Milford Oyster Festival, Inc., has donated over $35,000 to organizations such as Toys for Tots, Police and Youth (P.A.Y.) Program, Milford Audubon Society, Milford Senior Center and Milford Literacy Volunteers, just to name a few.