The 21st Annual Oyster Bay Oyster Festival committee is actively seeking past oyster eating contest winners and extreme eaters to participate in this year's Guinness Book of World Records attempt to be held at the Oyster Festival this October on the weekend of the 16th and 17th.

The current world record is held by John Wright who ate 97 oysters in three minutes in 2001 in a contest held in the United Kingdom.

Preliminary oyster eating contests will be held at a number of local restaurants including South Street Café in Oyster Bay. Winners from the preliminaries will then appear at the Guinness Book of World Records event to be held on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m.

"The addition of the Guinness Book of World Records attempt is very exciting," said Lance Elder, one of the co-chairpersons of the event. "It's the perfect way to pay homage to the oyster which has so much to do with the maritime history of Oyster Bay."

Oysters will be donated by one of the oldest oyster companies in the tri-state area, Frank M. Flower & Sons, for the Guinness World Book attempt.

The 21st Annual Oyster Festival is one of the largest waterfront festivals on the east coast. Boasting nearly 200,000 attendees, the 2-day event offers family fun, a haunted ghost ship, harbor tours, arts, antiques, crafts and food court.

For more information call the Oyster Festival hotline: 516-628-1625or look on the web at: www.theoysterfest.com