The Core Sound community of the Crystal Coast hosts WATERFOWL WEEKEND December 4 – 6, 2009 with traditional decoy carving and boat building demonstrations, live folk music and an abundance of the area’s fresh seafood and home cooking. The event – held every year at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center – gives members of the Harkers Island community the opportunity to throw open their doors welcoming everyone to their annual down home celebration of the natural beauty and maritime heritage of the area. From unraveling fact and fiction during storytelling sessions and sampling “fresh from the docks” fare to twirling on the dance floor with local musicians and exploring recently developed nature trails, the Waterfowl Weekend provides entertainment and a chance to experience the rich cultural bonds of a small North Carolina community.

Friday evening commences with a ticketed event to the Seafood & Wild Game Extravagance and Dessert Reception, serving as a preview of the weekend. Talented local artisans, musicians, and chefs are on hand Saturday and Sunday, during an event highlight of the Waterfowl Weekend, sharing some of the community’s long standing pastimes, including live boat building demonstrations from the area’s favorite local backyard boat builders and tales of Harkers Island’s rich heritage told by local storytellers. “Carteret Catch,” the initiative to signify which restaurants in Carteret County serve locally caught seafood, provides festival-goers with the opportunity to meet local fishermen and their families as well as chefs from local restaurants.

Dangling like a delicate strand of pearls off the coast of North Carolina, the favored Atlantic beach destination of generations represents one of the only remaining natural barrier island systems in the World. The Islands are strung together with 85 miles of silken coastline along the southern Outer Banks, 56 miles of which are in the protected Cape Lookout National Seashore. Miles of shimmering water reflects countless tiny suns during the day and shatters the moon into a thousand pieces at night. Lush maritime forests edge the silken coast like emerald jewels studding a royal crown. The barrier islands take a curious southward curve, blessing the Crystal Coast with beaches that course east and west making it possible to admire the dazzlingly bright sun rise to greet the day and then slip into the shimmering translucent blue waters in the evening during a spectacular North Carolina sunset.

For more information on the CORE SOUND WATERFOWL WEEKEND 2007, call (252) 728-1500 or visit www.coresound.com.

To experience NORTH CAROLINA’S CRYSTAL COAST along the southern Outer Banks, call (800) 786-6962 or visit www.crystalcoastnc.org.