The Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce will host its annual HarborFest festival on Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17, welcoming visitors and locals alike for a fun-filled weekend on Long Wharf and in Steinbeck Park and Marine Park, among other locations across the village.
“We are very excited that once again this year’s festival is expanding to the newly landscaped and beautiful Steinbeck Park,” said Ellen Dioguardi, the president of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce. “We will hold the Saturday night concert in Steinbeck Park, with East End favorites Gene Casey and The Lone Sharks at 5 PM and the HooDoo Loungers at 7:30 PM. Of course, we’ll have the whaleboat races at Windmill Beach and all the same great traditions that have always defined the festival.”
As the marquee event of the weekend, the whaleboat races will take place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The championship races for the men’s and women’s divisions will be held starting at 3:30 PM on Sunday.
“Ever since the early days of the festival in the 1960s, whaleboat racing has been a big favorite and the cornerstone of HarborFest,” said Dioguardi. “We are always looking for new teams to enter but fully expect all the regular competitors will come back to defend their past wins. Everyone sounds like they’re excited to get on the water off Windmill Beach.”
Sag Harbor’s rich history will be on full display across the village with groups like the John Jermain Memorial Library, the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, and the Eastville Community Historical Society hosting events and happenings.
The Old Whalers’ Church at 44 Union Street will host “The Voices of Old Whalers,” a historic service including music and hymns from the church’s historic 1845 pipe organ at 10 AM on Sunday, following an architectural tour of the church with architect Randy Croxton that begins at 9 AM.
The work of John Steinbeck, who was one of the early committee members and supporters of the original Whaler’s Festival, will be celebrated on Long Wharf at the Sag Harbor Historical Museum booth on Long Wharf.
Two companies — American Beauty and SailHamptons — will be offering tours of Sag Harbor and the surrounding waters by boat, with excursions leaving throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday from Long Wharf.
The Chamber’s annual HarborFest Arts & Crafts Fair will be held in Marine Park on Bay Street on Saturday and Sunday. The event will be held from 9 AM to 5 PM both days, with more than 50 artists and crafters displaying their work for sale.
Also returning this year is the famous HarborFest Clam Chowder Contest on Long Wharf. The event, which is a fundraiser for the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, will be held on Sunday, September 17, beginning at noon.
For more information and schedule of events, visit sagharborchamber.com.