logo logo logo logo

Sag Harbor Express

News / Sag Harbor Express / 2288687

Whale Ho! HarborFest Returns to Sag Harbor This Weekend

icon 2 Photos
Scenes from last year's HarborFest. FILE PHOTOS

Scenes from last year's HarborFest. FILE PHOTOS

Scenes from last year's HarborFest. FILE PHOTOS

Scenes from last year's HarborFest. FILE PHOTOS

authorStaff Writer on Sep 10, 2024

HarborFest, Sag Harbor’s annual celebration of its waterfront heritage, returns this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 14-15, with tasty food offerings, music, shopping, and numerous nautical-themed events, culminating in the annual whaleboat races at Windmill Beach.

Full coverage of the weekend can be found in “Festival” magazine, which accompanies this week’s edition of The Sag Harbor Express.

Among the highlights will be a concert by the Nancy Atlas band and special guests that will kick off the weekend a bit early, at 7 p.m., on Friday, September 13, at the Old Whalers’ Church. The show will help raise funds for the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s “Save the Whale” fund to help restore the whale used in the whaleboat races. Tickets are $50 for general admission and $70 for VIP seats and can be purchased at nancyatlasharborfest24.eventbrite.com.

The waterfront — and some venues further afield — will be busy all day Saturday and Sunday, with food vendors and numerous local organizations setting up booths on Long Wharf, children’s activities, and an arts and crafts fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday in Marine Park.

There will be art shows at both the Eastville Community Historical Society’s Heritage House, where the work of Michael Butler will be featured from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and the “725” art show featuring 30 artists who live in the 725 phone exchange taking place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum.

The whaleboat races, which have their origins in the Old Whalers Festival, which began in 1964 as an effort to help drum up tourism during the sleepy fall season, are the major draw of the weekend. This year, the races will be held in boats that have been restored by the crew at Ship Ashore Marina. Races begin at noon on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and will culminate with championships awarded in the Men’s, Women’s and Firefighters’ divisions on Sunday afternoon.

You May Also Like:

A New 27east and More Big Changes for The Express News Group

The Express News Group is launching a brand-new 27east.com this month, a major step forward ... 13 Dec 2025 by 27Speaks

Sag Harbor Village Police Reports for the Week of December 11

SAG HARBOR VILLAGE — An officer responded to a call from a Rysam Street address a little after midnight on Saturday. The caller told the officer that a man wearing a black ski mask had walked onto her porch and banged on the front door then ran off. The woman provided the officer with surveillance video from her Ring camera, which visually confirmed what the woman said had happened. Police described the man as white, “approximately 6 feet tall, wearing a black ski mask, black hoodie with a red logo on the back, and wording on the left chest, a ... 12 Dec 2025 by Staff Writer

Harmony for the Holidays

Let’s be real: As jolly as the holidays can be, they can also be overwhelming. ... by Jessie Kenny

A Little Time, a Big Impact: Pierson's Interact Club Brings Joy to Seniors and Revives Blood Drive

Isabella Carmona DeSousa didn’t know much about Pierson’s Interact Club when she joined two years ... 11 Dec 2025 by Cailin Riley

Dear Neighbor

Congratulations on your new windows. They certainly are big. They certainly are see-through. You must be thrilled with the way they removed even more of that wall and replaced it with glass. It must make it easier to see what is going on in your house even when the internet is down. And security is everything. Which explains the windows. Nothing will make you feel more secure than imagining yourself looking over the rear-yard setback from these massive sheets of structural glass. Staring at the wall has well-known deleterious impact, and windows the size of movie screens are the bold ... by Marilee Foster

I Can Dish It Out

Our basement looks like the final scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” where the (found) ark is crated and wheeled into the middle of a government warehouse with stacked crates going on for miles. In other words, we have a lot of stuff. This tracks. Mr. Hockey and I have been married for 36 (according to my calculator) years. We’ve had four (no calculator needed) pucks. We’ve lived in seven (according to my fingers) different homes in three (no calculator or fingers needed) countries. In 2010, we moved back to East Hampton full time. We brought everything we had ... by Tracy Grathwohl

The Urgency of Real

The Hamptons International Film Festival typically takes up a lot of oxygen in the fall on the South Fork, but it’s worth celebrating a slightly smaller but just as vital event in late autumn: the Hamptons Doc Fest. Running this week for its 18th year, the festival of documentaries was founded by Jacqui Lofaro and has become an essential part of the region’s arts scene every year. It’s a 12-month undertaking for Lofaro and her staff, and the result is always a tantalizing buffet of outstanding filmmaking, not to mention unforgettable stories. The arrival of the era of streaming services ... 10 Dec 2025 by Editorial Board

Hitting Pause

East Hampton’s housing shortage is real; the town can’t afford to ignore any potential long-term solutions. But the recent — and now scrapped — plan for a large employer-run complex on Three Mile Harbor Road raises too many questions that haven’t been fully answered. The proposal, put forward by Kirby Marcantonio and an unnamed partner, would have created 79 units of employer-controlled housing, comparable to a project he has pitched on Pantigo Road. To make it happen, the East Hampton Town Board would have had to allow the project to sidestep the town’s 60-unit limit on affordable developments, and rezone ... by Editorial Board

Proceed With Caution

Overlay districts are a common zoning tool used by many municipalities. Southampton Town has used them to varying degrees of success — the aquifer protection overlay district has been a winner; a downtown overlay district in Hampton Bays less so — in various parts of the town. They essentially look at the existing zoning, then allow those rules governing what can be done on properties to be reconsidered if there’s a newer concern to be addressed. In a bid to clean up the process for creating more affordable housing, the Town Board is looking at a new overlay district that ... by Editorial Board

The Whole Picture

When it comes to evaluating a complex development proposal, splitting up the application into separate parts may seem tempting, especially when environmental uncertainties loom. But in the case of Adam Potter’s plan for 7 and 11 Bridge Street, the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board should resist any temptation to segment the project for review. Potter’s attorney has asked the board to consider the gas ball property at 5 Bridge Street — a site that could provide the 93 parking spaces required for Potter’s 48 residential units and commercial spaces nearby — separate from the main development. The reason is understandable: ... by Editorial Board