HarborFest This Weekend In Sag Harbor

The annual HarborFest celebration and street fair, highlighted by a parade, whaleboat races and a competitive clam-shucking contest, will take place in Sag Harbor this weekend.

The three-day festival, organized by the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, will kick off on Friday evening with a viewing of “Wuthering Heights” at the Bay Street Theatre at 8 p.m. The usual opening evening clambake at the Whaling Museum has been cancelled.

“We’re looking forward to another great HarborFest,” said Sag Harbor Chamber President Robert Evjen. “HarborFest was voted best local event on Long Island last year, which we’re very proud of, and we’re looking to expand our already popular events. We’ve added some new things, we’re bringing in new activities for the kids on Long Wharf and the Whaling Museum and the dive team will be doing an in-water archeological dive. Some very interesting things.”

On Saturday morning the weekly farmers market on Bay Street will be on as usual and joined by the arts and crafts fair—with face painting and karaoke for kids and traditional maritime music by John Corr from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.—on Long Wharf and the sidewalk sales by all of the village’s Main Street businesses. The HarborFest parade, led by this year’s grand marshal, Jack Tagliasacchi, will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Main Street and end at the American Legion hall on Bay Street.

A walking tour of Sag Harbor’s historic maritime district will leave from the windmill at the foot of Long Wharf at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The American Beauty, skippered by Capt. Don Heckman, will set sail for cruises around the harbor and Shelter Island Sound at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Capt. Heckman will discuss the nautical history of Sag Harbor, once one of the country’s most important merchant and whaling ports.

Classic boats and a U.S. Coast Guard rescue boat will be on display on Long Wharf on Saturday and Coast Guardsmen will give a knot tying demonstration at 3 p.m. The Long Island Divers Association will conduct diving demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., also on the Long Wharf.

The first heats of the always competitive and often hilarious whaleboat races will begin at noon on Saturday. There are races for both men’s and women’s teams. Each boat, sponsored by a local business or organization, carries a four-person crew and races from Windmill Beach at the foot of Long Wharf, out into the harbor and back again. The elimination heat races will run through most of the afternoon on Saturday. The semifinal and championship races will take place on Sunday, starting at noon.

At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday the wet and wild “bucket brigade” contest, pitting teams against each other passing buckets of water until their barrel is full, will be held on Long Wharf.

At 4 p.m. Bay Burger will host its second annual lobster roll eating contest on the Long Wharf to see who can eat the most rolls in two minutes.

Sunday’s festivities will kick off with a pancake breakfast at the Sag Harbor Fire Department Firehouse.

At 11:30 a.m., there will be a tug-of-war for kids on Windmill Beach. All kids are welcome to participate. While the kids wage their tugging war, adults are invited to bring their antiques and collectibles to the Long Wharf for free professional appraisals and an antiques show and sale by local dealers and experts.

If you’re hungry come noontime, $5 will earn you the title of judge in the annual clam chowder contest, pitting the clam concoctions of Sag Harbor’s chefs against one another, with one crowned the victor by those sampling the goods. The tasting will begin at noon sharp so be sure to get there while it’s hot.

The final championship heat of the men’s and women’s whaleboat races will shove off at 3 p.m. Those who have lost their voices yelling at distant boat crews, can offer closer support for their favorite clam shucker on the wharf at 3:30 p.m., where speed with a knife and rag will determine who the fastest shuck in the Harbor is.

The weekend’s events will wrap up on Sunday night on a somber note, marking the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. The Bay Street Theatre will host a free showing of the film “Flight 93” to honor Sag Harbor native Linda Gronlund who died, along with her fiancé and 42 other passengers and crew, aboard the hijacked plane, which crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers tried to regain control of it from the terrorists who had seized it. For more information about HarborFest and a full calendar of events visit www.sagharboronline.net or call the chamber at 725-0011.