Choirboys' Mark Gable plays at Bermagui Taste of Seafood Festival

Choirboys front man Mark Gable will be performing, as will Bec Caurana who got the judges dancing last year in The Voice.

Phil Harte, coordinator of the series of eight festivals in the state, said the opening event on Friday will be a celebration of the 13^th birthday of Bermagui Fishermen's Wharf.

"There will be a birthday party as part of the seafood festival," he said.

"We will be putting up a whole lot of fireworks, a big birthday cake and free ice-cream for the kids from Bermagui Gelati Clinic, plus all the stallholders will be set up."

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The market will feature not only seafood but also some of the regulars from Bermagui's weekly Makers and Growers Market.

The birthday party will run from 6pm to 8.30pm.

The festival will continue at 9am on Saturday, with cooking demonstrations and classes around 10am.

Mr Harte has a 40-foot tour bus with a pop-up kitchen.

Among his many talents, Mr Harte is a chef.

In 1978 he won the International Catering Trade Fair while graduating from East Sydney Food School.

"I will be coming with some local chefs for cooking classes and talking about how to do smart things with seafood," Mr Harte said.

The festival's food and music elements enable Mr Harte to indulge several of his passions.

At one point he ran the famed San Francisco Grill in Sydney's Hilton Hotel.

He then entered the music and entertainment industry and helped establish the iconic Oz Rock Cafe in Sydney's Kings Cross.

That led him to bring international acts including the Eagles, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd and David Bowie to the cafe.

Mr Harte is coordinating the NSW Taste of Seafood Festivals for the Professional Fishers Association

The series of free events was funded by the NSW government's Eat More NSW Seafood grants program.

The program is a partnership between the NSW government and the NSW Seafood Industry Council to promote consumption of NSW seafood and foster greater community awareness and support for the industry.

The festivals are intended to help the seafood industry rebound from a series of knocks including drought, bushfire, pandemic and floods.

"We want everybody to come down, watch fireworks, have some oysters, the band will be playing Friday night and Saturday and it is free," Mr Harte said.

The festival will wrap up at 2pm on Saturday.

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