Fall is Festival Season
by Sarah Teach
Those of us who choose to live on Nantucket know that, despite our occasional gripes, island life is a gift worthy of celebration. We understand well why our island draws so many visitors during the warm summer months. We also understand the joys that autumn brings to Nantucket—autumn is our reward for working hard through the busy summer. Several local organizations are offering fall festivals throughout the next month, all of which will provide much-needed opportunities to catch up with the good friends we haven’t seen since springtime!
The Nantucket Arts Festival brings visitors and residents together for a ten-day celebration of the arts on Nantucket. This year’s festival will delight and inspire your visual and auditory senses from September 30 until October 9. The new Arts Passport, available for a small donation, includes a comprehensive schedule and a detailed map of the downtown location of events. Event producers will stamp the passport when you attend their event; then you will be eligible for a gift promotion at the close of the festival! Also new this year are Art Gallery Walking Tours and a series of talks by artisans. Returning highlights from past festivals will be the beloved Art Exhibit at Preservation Hall, local artist open houses and demonstrations, the Pipe Organ Crawl, poetry readings and lectures, theater performances, film presentations, and of course, the Artists Association famous Wet Paint Auction!
To celebrate our seafaring heritage, Egan Maritime Institute will host the annual Nantucket Maritime Festival at Children’s Beach on Saturday, October 1. If boat races and shucking contests are your style, then this festival is for you. A variety of local foods will be sold, live music will provide entertainment, and activities for every age will be offered throughout the day. Paint seashells, learn to repair fishing nets and tie sailors’ knots, and prove your harpoon-throwing skills. Demonstrations will be held throughout the day, and guests can tour the harbor, the fishing boat Ruthie B, Brant Point Lighthouse, and the Shellfish Propagation Lab. A four-way tug-of-war contest will be held, as will as paddle board contests, and a shucking contest to see who can open shellfish the fastest. Stay from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or however long you can!
Even though Fall Restaurant Week has been shortened this year, the 4th Annual Nantucket Junior Chef Competition is still on for Sunday, October 2 from noon to 2 p.m. at Cisco Brewery. NECN’s TV Diner Jenny Johnson will host the competition. Island culinary students, matched with Nantucket’s top chefs, will compete to create the best gourmet meal with local ingredients. This is a free event, but donations are accepted to benefit the Nantucket Culinary Arts Foundation.
The Annual Nantucket Historical Association Harvest Fair brings yet another host of family-friendly activities on Sunday, October 2, from noon until 3 p.m. at the Old Mill. Inside the mill, the grindstone will be grinding corn into cornmeal that will be available for purchase; and NHA interpreters will be on-hand to offer guided tours of the interior of the structure and explain its operation. Outside the mill, activities will include a petting zoo, a photo booth, historic games, and arts and crafts projects. Seasonal snacks and drinks will be available. Tickets for the Harvest Fair are $5 per child and free for accompanying adults, and may be purchased at the event.
What is more Nantucket than cranberries? Nothing, except perhaps an entire festival dedicated to them! The Nantucket Conservation Foundation will host the annual Cranberry Festival at Milestone Cranberry Bog on Saturday, October 8. Head on out any time between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for a good time of community camaraderie as we gather to celebrate and learn about our native fruit. If you’ve never seen cranberries being harvested, then you must come and make friends with this bounce-able, floatable, nutritious fruit. See it, taste it, smell it, and even bring it home! You can enjoy the organic cranberries fresh, and then freeze the rest for months ahead. Imagine the mouth-watering Thanksgiving you’ll have with sauces, breads, dressings, pies, and tarts made with locally grown fruit. Getting to the bog is simple: head east on Milestone Road for 4.2 miles. Watch for the brown rock on the left side that bears the number 220. Continue on Milestone Road for another 100 yards, make a left, and you’re there. Admission is free and parking is just $10 a car.
Coming in for a landing this year is the first Annual Nantucket Fall Birding Festival, described as “a lively look at island bird life” during the autumn season. The event, sponsored by Linda Loring Nature Foundation, will offer two expert-led field trips every day from October 20 to 23. In addition to field exploration, birders are invited to the Atheneum on Friday, October 21, at 7:30 p.m. to hear keynote speaker Peter Alden, naturalist, author, and pioneering tour guide and biodiversity expert. Following the two-hour talk will be a book signing and reception. Guiding and transportation are included in the cost of festival tickets; and discounted lodging and meals make it an affordable opportunity for birders everywhere. Stay tuned for updates at www.LLNF.org or call to reserve your place on the list of participants.
Finally, by October 29, it’s high time to start honing those pumpkin carving skills. Head out to Bartlett’s Farm for what Farmer Dave is calling one of the best Bartlett’s harvests yet and pick your own pumpkin! Bring your prize pumpkin up to the hayloft, where you’ll find a free pumpkin carving set-up, including all the tools and paints (and kind people to clean up after you) that you could possibly need to make the spookiest jack-o-lantern ever!
Come out and celebrate island life with fellow Nantucketers at any of or all of these fall festivities. It’s finally autumn on Nantucket, and it’s just what the doctor ordered.
