Fish Festival a resounding success, says organisers

Organisers of the Oistins Fish Festival are hailing the 2026 edition as a success.

​Speaking at the conclusion of the festivities, Co-chair Israel Mallett noted that the setup and execution were noticeably improved this year. He also pointed out that the process with vendors was smoother than in previous years and was pleased to report that the event remained largely incident-free.

​“The Festival has gone quite smoothly. It has been a smoother process this year we found with the vendors with setting up everything.

“Overall I think we have a really good solid Festival this year. I’m really happy with how things have turned out,” Mallett said, revealing that the only notable disruption was a minor vehicular accident where no one was injured.

​Addressing public feedback and criticisms that the atmosphere felt “slow” or “dead” at times, he suggested those sentiments might be a reflection of the wider economic climate in the country. Rather than shying away from the critiques, Mallett welcomed the dialogue as a means of future improvement.

​“We love criticism. We like to hear from people what their thoughts are, what their feedback is, because those are things that we look to internalise and implement and work on for the years to come,” he explained.

​The co-chair also responded to concerns raised by some vendors regarding a decline in sales and profitability over the years. 

Mallett emphasised that while the committee does its part to market the event, there is a collective responsibility shared by the fisherfolk, vendors, and organisers to drive engagement.

​He highlighted a proactive approach to handling individual vendor issues on the spot, sharing an example of using social media to boost a vendor’s visibility during a slow period.

​“One of the things we try to do is to work with the vendors. If there’s an issue that we can resolve on the spot, we try to resolve that issue on the spot and if it’s something we can’t resolve on the spot, we take it into our post-mortem and planning,” Mallett said.

​Reflecting on his tenure with the festival, Mallett described his time in leadership as a period of significant personal and professional development. Despite entering the role with little experience in large-scale event organisation, he said the “fresh perspective” he brought had been beneficial.

​“It’s been a real experience of growth coming into it,” he said. “I have met a lot of great people through the vendors, the community, the fisher folk… it has been a really expanding experience for me.”

(RR)