You Can Be A Part of Greenport Maritime Festival!
Have you ever wanted to row a gig with your neighbors or build a cardboard boat or go parading as a pirate through the streets of Greenport? Now’s your chance to get involved.
There are big changes afoot at this year’s Greenport Maritime Festival, which will be held the weekend of Sept. 25 through Sept. 27, but many of the traditions that have built this community celebration of its nautical heritage are going strong.
Last fall, the East End Seaport Museum announced it would no longer be organizing the Maritime Festival, after 35 years, as it refocused its mission on preserving the maritime heritage, culture and history of the East End. The festival was by far the biggest event organized by the museum, and had become a huge drain on its resources and volunteers.
But members of Greenport’s business community rallied, and the newly formed Greenport Business Owners Alliance, in partnership with the non-profit Hold Fast Fund, agreed to take on the challenge of running the nuts and bolts of Maritime.
The Seaport Museum is now focusing on several thoroughly nautical events throughout the weekend, including a new classic boat regatta in Gardiner’s Bay and a community rowing pilot program organized in partnership with the Village Community Boathouse from New York City.
Six weeks out from the festival, the organizers held an organizing meeting at the Hold Fast Studio on Main Street Aug. 12, seeking volunteers, sponsors and community involvement in this year’s festivities.
A New Team at the Helm
The GBOA steering committee includes Sarah Phillips Loth of First & South restaurant, Kim Loper of Harbor Pet, Rena Wilhelm of The Weathered Barn and Kara Hoblin of the North Fork Art Collective.
Ms. Loth is leading the effort, while Ms. Wilhelm is organizing the involvement of downtown businesses and visiting vendors, Ms. Loper is acting as the liaison to the nautical activities and the museum and Ms. Hoblin is handling social media, the website and promotion.
“The initial announcement it was canceled was one of those things we all felt in our belly — ‘what are you talking about?’” said Ms. Wilhelm. “We all just felt, instinctively, ‘what do we have to do to make this happen?’”
At the organizing meeting, Ms. Loth gave the crowd an overview of how to get involved with the festival, through a new website, greenportmaritimefestival.com, designed by a local web design company, Visual Natives, with photography by Jeremy Garretson.
“We’re all here now to give us six weeks out to the event, so that everybody gets together and brings ideas to the table to see if we have time to execute them, or if not, if we can do it next year,” said Ms. Loth. “We have a community liaison for each event. The website is the backbone. Everything is being funneled through the website.”
If you want to build a float for the parade, she said, email parade@greenportmaritimefestival.com, and you’ll be put in touch with Tod Hart, a unicyclist who is often leading the way in Greenport’s many parades. He’s coordinating the Maritime parade, on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m., after his neighbor, longtime parade organizer Joe Corso, turned the mantle over to him.
“We’re trying to bring more variety to the parade — if you have a great idea for a nautical float, let us know,” he said. “We’re hoping to turn it up a notch. Sarah wants it turned up three notches.”
The community art studio VEME Studios, at 37 Front Street (in Bootleg Alley), is holding a series of classes ahead of the parade where adults and kids ages six and up can make seashell crowns, jellyfish umbrellas and capes to wear in the parade. A kids program is scheduled for Aug. 26, 27 and 28 from 3 to 5 p.m., and adult programs are slated for Sept. 15, 16 and 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. Prospective participants can sign up on VEME’s website.
The Merry Merfolk, a group of whimsical nautical characters in the parade long organized by Greenport gallerist Caroline Waloski, have not yet found a new organizer, said Ms. Loth. But, she said, the festival would welcome a new group to take on the project.
Four years ago, Maritime added a Cardboard Boat Regatta to its festivities. Michael Conklin has been an avid participant, and this year he’ll be in charge.
“We’re looking to make the cardboard boat race a bigger event,” he said. “The Riverhead Cardboard Boat Race is a standalone event and it’s huge. We’re hoping the biggest problem we have here this year is having enough room on the beach for all the people we have.”
The Cardboard Boat Regatta will be held on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 12:30 p.m. Details on how to register are expected to soon be posted on the Maritime Festival website.
Museum Gets Back to Basics
Meanwhile, the East End Seaport Museum is busy putting together its programs. Its annual Land & Sea Gala — previously the only portion of Maritime that had served as a fundraiser for the museum — is slated to be held Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. More details are forthcoming.
The Bug Light Classic Regatta, to be held on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 9:30 a.m., is a revival of a regatta that the museum had held in the past, said EESM Executive Director Erin Kimmel. This year it will be held in partnership with the Shelter Island Yacht Club and the Stirling Harbor Foundation.
The race will be held in Gardiner’s Bay, near the Seaport Museum’s Bug Light, with the course designed by the Shelter Island Yacht Club race committee and communicated at the Skipper’s Meeting on race day. Find Out More.
A “Reggae and Rum” regatta afterparty will be held at the museum at 6 p.m. Tickets are $75 and are available online here.
Ms. Kimmel said representatives from the Village Community Boathouse, a non-profit community rowing club on the Hudson River in Manhattan, approached the museum about launching a pilot community rowing program during Maritime weekend.
“We hope it grows into a bigger program, providing access to the waterfront and public opportunities for rowing,” said Ms. Kimmel.
The Boathouse will be bringing a four-oared fixed-seat wooden rowing gig, steered by a certified coxswain, to the Town Dock behind the Seaport Museum, where attendees can reserve a slot to row at 10 a.m., Noon or 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
According to the Seaport Museum, “Greenport has its own rowing pedigree. In the early 1900s, the village had its own Pelican Rowing Club — local underdogs who, as local legend has it, once beat Yale on the Ivy League crew’s home water in Connecticut.”
“This pilot is meant to gauge interest in forming a local Greenport-based community rowing group. If turnout is strong, next steps could include borrowing or building a boat, and running a small dory-building workshop at the museum this winter to have a boat ready for next season,” the museum added.
More information is expected to be posted on the Seaport Museum’s website.
A Great Need for Volunteers & Sponsors
The need for volunteers for this undertaking is huge — from helping to set up signage and vendor booths to loading musical acts in and out, providing directions to festival attendees, producing events, ensuring water safety, running competitions and the annual treasure hunt, working on promotion and helping with the gala. To get involved, email events@greenportmaritimefestival.com.
The organizers are also asking local businesses to come aboard as sponsors for the event. Here Are Details.
Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital has again signed on as the title sponsor.
“The Maritime Festival is a wonderful event for our community, and we’re always glad to be a part of it,” said Stony Brook ELIH Chief Administrative Officer Paul J. Connor. “During the festival, the ELIH Auxiliary hosts its annual Dream Green Extravaganza. Now in its 34th year, Dream Green is a wonderful way for people to support our community hospital. Tickets are $100 each, and the funds raised help support the programs, services and equipment that allow us to continue providing high-quality care close to home.”
Dream Green Extravaganza tickets are currently available at several local businesses and online through the ELIH Auxiliary. During Maritime Festival weekend, tickets will also be available at the ELIH Auxiliary Opportunity Shop, 321 Main Street in Greenport, until the drawing at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27. The drawing will take place in front of the Opportunity Shop.
“The sponsors have exceeded our expectations,” said Ms. Loper. “Sarah’s connections translate into every relationship we have.”
“It’s so cool to be out here, having this outreach and getting this all done. It’s not easy, but it feels easy,” said Ms. Loth. “After the Seaport Museum announced the cancellation, there was so much bad press. It was like getting divorced in public. This is our first chance to say let’s go, let’s do this. Now that we’ve taken over, the Maritime Museum can focus on the things it wants to do. It’s a handshake deal that’s also a big hug.”
“These guys are amazing,” said Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi of the Maritime team. “I’m thrilled to see how the Greenport Business Owners Alliance and East End Seaport Museum, together with many others in the community, came together with the village to plan an incredible Maritime Festival for 2026.”
