The Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s final Business After Hours of the year brings all-you-can-eat oysters, a no-hands hot wing contest and shared memories to Segra Stadium Oct. 22.
You are a local business owner. You have attended Greater Fayetteville Chamber events before. You may have shaken hands, exchanged business cards or listened to a presentation inside Segra Stadium’s Mission Roll Call Club.
But something about this one is different.
This time, the gathering is not tucked inside the stadium’s polished upstairs event space. When you arrive at Segra Stadium Oct. 22, you will trade conference-room formality for an apron and oyster shells—and, if you are one of a few willing contestants, wing sauce all over your face.
The first 200 people through the gate will receive an apron, koozie and drink token. The apron may begin the evening clean, but Greater Fayetteville Chamber Director of Events Jordan Sturgis made no promises about how it will look by the end.
“We just have a good time,” she said. “It gets a little messy. That is the Rock ’N Boil.”
Fun was the word that kept surfacing during a conversation with Sturgis and Greater Fayetteville Chamber President and CEO Nat Robertson. Sturgis called the Greater Carolina Rock ’N Boil the Chamber’s “party of the year.”
The annual event has brought the business community together for more than three decades. Now in its 34th year, Rock ’N Boil is the Chamber’s final Business After Hours of 2026.
Its place on the October calendar also connects the local tradition to a larger statewide celebration. Robertson said October is North Carolina Oyster Month, and the Greater Carolina Rock ’N Boil is part of the North Carolina Oyster Trail.
While the event has a long history, this year’s gathering is not leaning on tradition alone. Attendees can expect the familiar sights, sounds and smells of a Low Country boil, barbecue and all-you-can-eat oysters, along with music, raffles and a photo booth.
Then there is the detail some attendees may not realize they needed: a no-hands hot wing eating contest. Contestants keep their hands behind their backs and do their best to finish their wings—with dignity optional.
That slightly messy atmosphere is not simply part of the entertainment. It helps create the kind of shared experience that can make the next business interaction feel more natural and memorable.
“You never know who you’re going to be standing across from when you’re shucking oysters with an apron on, or who you’re sitting next to with wing sauce all over your face,” Sturgis said.
Months later, you may find yourself sitting beside that same person at Coffee Club, a networking breakfast or another Business After Hours. Instead of beginning with another formal introduction—name, business and business card—you already have a story.
You may remember eating hot wings together, shucking oysters side by side or competing for a raffle prize.
“You can only be but so serious with wing sauce all over your face,” Sturgis said.
The business side of the Chamber will still be present. This year, additional booths will give Chamber members and event sponsors more room to share information about their businesses and speak with attendees.
The booths are designed to become part of the experience rather than pull guests away from it, giving businesses greater visibility while allowing conversations to develop within the event’s casual atmosphere.
Presented by Brightspeed, the Greater Carolina Rock ’N Boil will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Segra Stadium, 460 Hay St. Chamber members receive discounted admission, but the event is also open to nonmembers. Registration will remain open through the day before the event, and tickets are available under the events tab at faybiz.com.
Long after the aprons are washed, the wing sauce is gone and the oyster shells have been cleared away, the Chamber hopes those shared moments will still give people something to talk about when they meet again in the new year.

(Photo: Attendees shuck oysters during the Greater Fayetteville Chamber's Rock 'N Boil in 2025. Photos courtesy of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber)