WHALE HO!
HarborFest 2022 will be held Saturday and Sunday September 10th and 11th, with the village’s rich maritime history on full display all weekend long. Long Wharf will be filled with live music, kids activities, great food, beer and wine and dozens of vendors representing Sag Harbor’s rich cultural and artistic history.
Visit Marine Park for the annual HarborFest Arts & Crafts Fair, with more than 50 vendors on hand to sell their handmade art, jewelry and other crafts. Don’t miss the famous HarborFest Clam Chowder Contest on Sunday at noon, and of course whaleboat racing all afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday off Windmill Beach.
If you are interested in being a vendor at HarborFest, please fill visit our Vendor Application page.
2022 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
8:00 pm Live Music with The Complete Unknowns, a celebration of the artistry of Bob Dylan, Bay Street Theater.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
9:00 am – 1:00 pm Sag Harbor Farmers’ Market – Bay Street
9:00 am – 5:00 pm Arts and Crafts Fair – Marine Park
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Tony the Pony and the Barnyard Buddies Pony Rides and Petting Zoo – Steinbeck Park
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Children’s Amusements, Games and Activities – Long Wharf and Steinbeck Park
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Classic Boat Display – Long Wharf
10:00 am – 5:00 pm A Taste of Sag Harbor – Long Wharf
10:00 am – 1:00 pm Mashashimuet Park Through the Years exhibit – Sag Harbor Historical Museum, 174 Main Street
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Her Story: A Celebration of Notable Sag Harbor Women, 1800-1970 exhibit – Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum, 200 Main Street
10:00 am Live Music with the Sag Harbor Community Band – Long Wharf
11:00 am Children’s Tug-of-war – Windmill Beach
11:00 am – 3:00 pm Exhibition on View: Resilience by Superposition Gallery – Eastville Historical Society Heritage House, 139 Hampton Street
11:00 am – 4:00 pm Historical Harbor Tours for up to 10 people on a 45-minute boat tour leaving Long Wharf on the hour. $100 per person, to benefit Fighting Chance. Visit their booth on Long Wharf for info, or call 631-725-4646.
Noon Whalers Cup Races Elimination Round #1 – Long Wharf and Windmill Beach
12:30 pm Live Music with Anita Guarino – Long Wharf
1:00 pm Kids’ Corn Shucking Contest – register at the Epic Martial Arts booth on Long Wharf
1:30 pm Firefighters’ Cup Whaleboat Races, Sag Harbor FD Championship – Windmill Beach
1:30 pm New Book Launch: Trash Talk, book signing by Dr. Patricia Turner with reception to follow – Eastville Historical Society Heritage House, 139 Hampton Street
2:00 pm Live Music in the Harbor with Bruce Beyer & Friends – Sag Harbor Historical Museum, 174 Main Street
2:30 pm Children’s Potato Sack Race – Windmill Beach
2:45 pm Children’s Hula Hoop Fun – Windmill Beach
3:00 pm Whalers Cup Races Elimination Round #2 – Long Wharf and Windmill Beach
3:30 pm Live Music with Lynn Blue Band – Long Wharf
3:45 pm Keith Leaf Fire Juggler Show – Steinbeck Park
4:00 pm American Beauty Cruises & Charters special one-hour HarborFest boat ride – Long Wharf. $20 adults, $15 children, under 5 are free. Check-in starts at 3:30 pm
5:00 pm Canio’s Books presents John Steinbeck expert Susan Shillinglaw, speaking about Travels with Charley, the subject of her forthcoming book – The Church, 48 Madison Street. $10 to register, visit canios.wordpress.com.
5:00 pm Live Music with Gene Casey and The Lonesharks – Steinbeck Park
6:00 pm American Beauty Cruises & Charters Sunset Cruise, two-hour cruise departs from Long Wharf. $45 adults, $30 children, under 5 are free. Check-in at 5:30 pm
7:00 pm Live Music with HooDoo Loungers – Steinbeck Park
8:00 pm Live Music with The Complete Unknowns, a celebration of the artistry of Bob Dylan – Bay Street Theater.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
8:00 am – Noon Pancake breakfast – Sag Harbor Fire Department, Brick Kiln Road
9:00 am Tour the Old Whalers’ Church, built in 1844, with a service to follow – 44 Union Street
9:00 am – 5:00 pm Arts and Crafts Fair, Marine Park
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Tony the Pony and the Barnyard Buddies Pony Rides and Petting Zoo, Steinbeck Park
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Children’s Amusements, Games, Activities, Long Wharf and Steinbeck Park
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Classic Boat Display, Long Wharf
10:00 am – 5:00 pm A Taste of Sag Harbor, Long Wharf
10:00 am – 1:00 pm Mashashimuet Park Through the Years exhibit – Sag Harbor Historical Museum, 174 Main Street
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Her Story: A Celebration of Notable Sag Harbor Women, 1800-1970 exhibit – Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum, 200 Main Street
11:00 am Live Music with Alfredo Merat – Long Wharf
11:00 am Children’s Tug-of-War – Windmill Beach
11:00 am – 3:00 pm Exhibition on View: Resilience by Superposition Gallery – Eastville Historical Society Heritage House, 139 Hampton Street
11:00 am – 4:00 pm Historical Harbor Tours for up to 10 people on a 45-minute boat tour leaving Long Wharf on the hour. $100 per person, to benefit Fighting Chance. Visit their booth on Long Wharf for info, or call 631-725-4646.
11:45 am Junior Whaleboat Elimination and Semifinal Rounds – Long Wharf and Windmill Beach
Noon – 4:00 pm Celebrating Ma’s House as a recipient of one of Preservation Long Island’s bi-annual Preservation Awards for Organizational Excellence. Art will be on display on the lawn and the Custom House will be open for self-guided tours, Custom House, 192 Main Street
Noon Clam Chowder Contest, Sponsored by Manna at the Lobster Inn to benefit the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce – Long Wharf, Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce Booth
Noon Whaleboat Races Semifinal – Windmill Beach and Long Wharf
12:30 pm American Beauty Special One-Hour HarborFest Boat Ride – Long Wharf. $20 adults, $15 children, under 5 are free. Check-in starts at noon.
1:00 pm Live Music with Jim Turner – Long Wharf
1:00 pm Children’s Corn Shucking Contest – Windmill Beach
1:30 pm Whaleboat Racing, Fire Department Final
2:00 pm The Sag Harbor Cup Regatta at Breakwater Yacht Club, captains meeting prior to race.
2:00 pm American Beauty Cruises & Charters special one-hour HarborFest boat ride, Long Wharf. $20 adults, $15 children, under 5 are free. Check-in starts at 3:30 pm
2:00 – 4:00 pm Dramatic readings from selections of John Steinbeck’s work by Harris Yulin, Paul McIsaac, and others. Fundraiser for Canio’s Cultural Cafe, music and reception with silent auction. Suggested donation $10 – Canio’s Cultural Café, 290 Main Street
2:30 pm Junior Whaleboat Championship – Long Wharf and Windmill Beach
2:30 pm Live Music with Edna’s Kin – Long Wharf
3:00 pm Children’s Hula Hoop Contest – Long Wharf
3:45 pm Whaleboat Men’s and Women‘s Championships – Windmill Beach and Long Wharf
4:0 pm Live Music with The Popsicles – Long Wharf
4:00 pm American Beauty Cruises & Charters special one-hour HarborFest boat ride – Long Wharf. $20 adults, $15 children, under 5 are free. Check-in starts at 3:30 pm
6:00 pm American Beauty Cruises & Charters Sunset Cruise, two-hour cruise departs from Long Wharf. $45 adults, $30 children, under 5 are free. Check-in at 5:30 pm
Fun for Kids
New to HarborFest this year is an expanded Kids’ Zone in Steinbeck Park with Tony The Pony offering pony rides and a petting zoo for all children to enjoy. The South Fork Natural History Museum will be in Steinbeck Park with live native Eastern box turtles, and gray tree frogs, and John Jermain Memorial Library will have fun sea-themed crafts and tattoos. Don’t miss the fire juggling show by Keith Leaf at 3:45 pm on Saturday. Long Wharf will also be teeming with fun kids’ activities, with bounce castles, games, competitions, amusements and so much more. Just off the wharf on Windmill Beach will be tug-of-wars, hula hoop contests and the annual corn shucking contest, all presented by Epic Martial Arts.
Whaleboat Races
HarborFest’s signature event presented by The Sag Harbor Express off Windmill Beach, where annual bragging rights and the coveted Whalers Cups are on the line. The races had their origins in the Old Whalers Festival, which began in 1964 as an effort to drum up tourism during the shoulder season. Races begin at noon on Saturday and 11:30 am on Sunday and run throughout the afternoon. Men’s, Women’s, Junior’s and Firefighter divisions will compete.
Live Music on Long Wharf
This year’s festival will feature live music across town with musicians taking to Long Wharf, Steinbeck Park and the Sag Harbor Historical Museum throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday. Old favorites like Jim Turner and the Sag Harbor Community Band, along with some new names like The Popsicles and Lynn Blue Band. Don’t miss Bruce Beyer & Friends at the Sag Harbor Historical Museum on Saturday at 2:00 pm. The festival wraps up on Saturday with a 5:00 pm performance by Gene Casey and The Lonesharks and a 7:00 pm show with the HooDoo Loungers, both in Steinbeck Park.
Clam Chowder Contest
The can’t-miss event of the festival is the famous HarborFest Clam Chowder Contest, which begins at noon on Sunday. Sample chowders from local restaurants and take home a commemorative HarborFest mug! The event is sponsored by Manna at the Lobster Inn, costs $20 to participate and will benefit the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
Tour the Old Whalers’ Church
Built in 1844, the Old Whalers’ Church is a National Historic Landmark at 44 Union Street in Sag Harbor. Starting at 9:00 am on Sunday, there will be an architectural highlights tour by Randy Croxton and members of the church’s historical committee. Listen to the sound of the oldest working pipe organ on Long Island, demonstrated by the church’s highly regarded organist and music director, Walter Klauss. Attend a church service at 10:00 am based on the words and music of the time period when this beautiful church was constructed and attended by whalers from around the world. Finish your visit with coffee hour and a historic tour of the Old Burying Ground, final resting place of patriots and Revolutionary War veterans.
