It’s that time of year again!
The annual HarborFest comes to Sag Harbor this weekend, with a slew of festivities that both celebrate and honor the former whaling village’s rich nautical history. Set for this Saturday, Sept. 13, and Sunday, Sept. 14, the village-wide event — started in 1963 and led by the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce — is a beloved end-of-summer, say-hello-to-fall affair, sure to include sure-fire fun for all folks, young and old. Activity will be scattered about village locales, with Long Wharf, the adjacent Windmill Beach, Bay Street Theater courtyard, Steinbeck Park and Marine Park serving as prominent bases for festival action.
“We’re just really looking forward to the community gathering that it always is,” says chamber president Ellen Dioguardi.
A time-honored tradition for decades, both days of HarborFest kick will include the highly anticipated whaleboat races off of Windmill Beach, the arts and crafts fair at Marine Park, plus a slew of live musical performances along with the Taste of Long Wharf, featuring a smorgasbord of food and beverages from local restaurants purveyors. Fun and games for the kids will include potato sack races, corn shucking contests, a tug of war, and hula hoop fun.
Live music will be performed by the HooDoo Loungers, Gene Casey and the Lonesharks, Anita Guarino Duo, Nancy Atlas, Alfredo Merat, Greg McMullen Fiasco, Lynn Blue Band, Jettykoon, Rum Punch Mafia and more.
“I just think that it’s really neat that this is something that people who grew up here want to come home for, of course, like it means that much to them, and that’s why we keep sticking to the traditions of it adding a little bit every year that we can, but trying to keep it what everybody remembers from when they grew up.”
In addition to all the traditional HarborFest happenings, Dioguardi notes the esteemed clam shucking contest will return after being on hiatus for a few years.
“We’re excited about that,” she says. “We’re hoping to have a fight to reclaim the number one position between previous adversaries in the contest, which were Peter Ambrose and Nancy Atlas. The last time they were both in the contest, I think Nancy beat Peter by, like, four seconds, or something like that. So they’re coming back gunning for each other.”
According to Dioguardi, this year’s HarborFest will also serve as a reunion for at least a dozen graduating classes from Pierson High School, who collectively decided the cherished event was the perfect time to get together and celebrate.
“”I just think that it’s really neat that this is something that people who grew up here want to come home for, of course, like it means that much to them, and that’s why we keep sticking to the traditions of it adding a little bit every year that we can, but trying to keep it what everybody remembers from when they grew up,” Dioguardi says. “It’s an amazing thing to be the stewards of something that is so important in everybody’s memories. This event is held so dearly in everybody’s memories, and that we can keep it going that, to me, means just about everything.”
For a full schedule of HarborFest events, click here.
