For nearly two thousand years,people have been cultivating the common British oyster in the lower reaches of England' s Colne River－－ever since the town now known as Colchester was a Roman fortress.The Romans exported boatloads of oysters to Italy.

Colchester' s oyster harvest is still a big event.On opening day in late September,the mayor and city council members don3) ceremonial regalia4) and travel via fishing boat to the “oyster－fattening beds.”There the mayor dredges the season' s first oysters and immediately eats one．As is customary in this rite,he chases that with gin5) and ginerbread,toasting the queen's health.

The second oyster ceremony,the Colchester Oyster Feast,has been an institution since before the seventeenth century－－and always on October 20,which was a major occasion for trade fairs.Originally the oyster f east was a literal free－for－all,with everyone hauling bucketfuls of oysters from the river.Today the feast is a genteel6),controlled function at the Colchester Moot Hall.At the formal evening banquet,some four hundred diners,often including a Royal or two,consume upwards of twelve thousand oysters.
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