‘Tis the season to feast on Lowcountry flavor during upcoming Hilton Head culinary festivals made with just the right ingredients to satisfy every taste bud. Here are some tasty morsels of what’s cooking in Hilton Head over the next few months:

Succulent oysters on the half shell are bountiful these days in Hilton Head and visitors with a hankering for the tasty bivalve mollusk will find them as well as shrimp, chowder and hamburgers (for those squeamish about shellfish) during the Hilton Head Oyster Festival, Nov. 14 – 15, 2009 at Shelter Cove Community Park.

Cooking demonstrations, Lowcountry cuisine prepared by regional guest chefs, brewers and vintners from across the country, live music, wine and food tastings, and private events are the ingredients Tyler Florence’s Palmetto Bluff Lowcountry Celebration is made of. Sponsored by Coastal Living magazine, this culinary festival takes place Nov. 18 – 22 in various places in Palmetto Bluff. For those not in the culinary know, Tyler Florence he’s a celebrated celebrity chef on the Food Network, cookbook author, husband and father.

Ef oonah yent hab hawss fuh ride - ride cow. (That’s Gullah for: If you don’t have a horse to ride, take the cow!) The Hilton Head Island Gullah Celebration takes place Feb. 2010 and although a schedule of events hasn’t been released, we know something Hilton Head visitors won’t want to miss is the Ol’ Fashioned Gullah Breakfast, which will feature stewed oysters, shrimp and grits, fried fish, homemade biscuits and beverages prepared by native islanders. Gullah people are descendants of West Africans brought in bondage to Georgia and South Carolina.

Set to celebrate 25 years is the Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival and details are still being finalized but planned events include Wine Centered Women, Uncork the Festival, International Wine Judging and Competition, and Great Chefs of the South. Save the Date for the March 1 – 15, 2010 with activities taking place throughout the island.

Visit the Hilton Head Island – Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Web site for updated culinary festival information and let Resort Rentals Intl. find a bed to rest your head in Hilton Head.