The Port Washington Chamber of Commerce and the Town of North Hempstead will be presenting the 28th annual HarborFest Dock Day and Craft Festival on Sunday, June 3. All events officially begin at 10 a.m. at the Town Dock, Baxter’s Pond and lower Main Street. Admission is free and there will be free parking at the train station and Manorhaven Park. The Admiral Sponsor of HarborFest is Anton Media Group.
A big attraction is the HarborFest Craft Fair featuring over 90 quality craftspeople. Their booths will be located along lower Main Street, near the Town Dock. The HarborFest Craft Fair is sponsored by Blank Slate Media and Home Run Electric. Another attraction along Main Street is Art In The Park, organized by The Art Guild and sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Manhasset/Port Washington. It features local artists displaying their work in Sunset Park along the Manhasset Bay waterfront. They will also have a free clay workshop for children at 12 p.m. and a free plein air workshop at 1:30 p.m. for all ages. Button making will be offered throughout the day.
As soon as you enter the dock, look for the Chamber of Commerce booth near the entrance. They will be giving out free reusable shopping bags for all HarborFest purchases and future shopping. The Chamber’s bags are sponsored by the Port Washington Water Taxi. Additional bags have been donated by Stop & Shop.
Many are excited that the three-masted schooner SoundWaters will return to Manhasset Bay for HarborFest. On Saturday, June 2, the SoundWaters will depart the Town Dock for a sunset sail from 6 to 8 p.m. During HarborFest Dock Day, on Sunday, June 3, SoundWaters will set sail at 12, 2 and 4 p.m. Reservations for all sails may be made online at www.harborfestcruises.eventbrite.com. The cost for the sunset sail is $35 per person, all ages. The cost for the Sunday Dock Day sails are $25 for adults and $15 for children ages 5 to 12. Please note that children under 5 should not participate in the cruises. Founded in 1989, SoundWaters’ mission is to educate children and adults about the wonders and beauty of Long Island Sound and its watershed.
There are several other ways that people can see up close how beautiful the Manhasset Bay truly is. Port Washington’s Water Taxi will be available to take people on scenic cruises throughout HarborFest. For the more adventurous, Atlantic Outfitters will offer kayaking and paddle boarding.
A highly anticipated event is the demonstration of the Port Washington Fire Department’s Fire Boat. It will be moored off the Town Dock for HarborFest and the demonstrations are sure to be exciting for all the festivalgoers.
Many lucky visitors can catch a free ride on the picturesque North Fork Trolley, sponsored by the Greater Port Washington Business Improvement District (BID). The trolley will make a continuous loop from the train station to the festival area.
The HarborFest Model Boat Regatta program has Chamber of Commerce volunteers teaching third graders from all Port Washington elementary schools how to make pontoon-style boats from recycled materials. Registration for participants takes place at Baxter’s Pond at 9:15 a.m. for Sousa and Daly, at 9:45 a.m. for Guggenheim and Manorhaven and at 10:15 a.m. for Salem and St. Peter’s. The Regatta races will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Marian Weissman organized the classroom sessions. Mary Lu Dempsey Palafox put the boat kits together. Bill Palafox is organizing all aspects of the event while Laura Silver McGuire is organizing crowd control and assisting volunteer recruitment. Other key team members are Alan Bergman, Holly Byrne, Dave Franklin, Ronnie Heller, Fred Hsu, Tom Scalice, Paul Schrynemakers and Joel Ziev. The Regatta’s T-shirt sponsor is the Port Washington Public Library Foundation—Tepper Intergenerational Program. Regatta benefactors are the Baxter’s Pond Foundation and the Nautical Advisory Council of the Port Washington Public Library. Major sponsors are Atlantic Outfitters, Center Island Contracting, Knights of Columbus Council 1227, the Manhasset Bay Sportsmens Club, the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, North Shore Yacht Club, Port Sailing School, Port Washington Dental, and the Port Washington Yacht Club. Additional financial support is received from many Chamber of Commerce members.
The large and popular HarborFest Family Fun Park is organized by The Parent Resource Center (PRC) and the Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Newsday. Visit the PRC Fun Tent which always delights the children with fabulous games and crafts. The PRC even has a train ride which is always a favorite with the kids. The PRC activities are sponsored by Babyganics and Whole Foods Market Manhasset. Also in the Family Fun Park, the Science Museum of Long Island will offer hands-on fun with a touch tank, the PAL will set up a dunk tank and a dozen other local organizations and businesses will have games, sports activities, gymnastics, science fun and crafts so the kids will never get bored.
The Fun Park also features free family entertainment all day on the Family Fun Stage. To start the day, Brownie Troop 451 will lead the audience in “Our Pledge of Allegiance” at 10:15 a.m. The children’s entertainment will kick off at 10:20 a.m. with Juliana Urcan-Delgado singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The “Talented Kids of Port Washington” show will begin at 10:25 a.m. Shining Studios will perform at 12:10 p.m. At 12:30 p.m. there will be a performance by Danceworks New York. At 1 p.m., students from Bach to Rock will entertain. Voice Academy will take the stage at 1:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., Dance Arts Centre will perform. P.I.T. Joy will take the stage at 2:30 p.m. Olga Berest Dance Studio will perform at 3 and at 4 p.m., the iSchool of Music will take over. The Family Fun Stage is sponsored by Center Island Contracting, Dental365, Diane’s Place Hair Salon, Healthy Kids Pediatrics and Long Island Boat Rentals.
The unique HarborFest Treasure Hunt, organized by Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, will be back with fabulous prizes from local merchants and special gifts for all. Children can go to participating businesses until June 2 and say the “secret message” to get a voucher for a chance to find the lucky key to the Treasure Chest (“One if by land, two if by sea, I’ll say ‘please’ for a chance for the key”). They can bring their vouchers to the Treasure Hunt booth on the dock anytime from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during Dock Day. The Treasure Hunt is sponsored by Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, Dime Community Bank, Power Home Remodeling and Sandata Technologies.
On the Town Dock, there will be dozens of local merchants and organizations offering fine shopping and browsing, demonstrations, activities, give-aways, services and information. As always, a main attraction will be HarborFest’s Fabulous Food Court. There will be tasty selections from Ayhan’s Shish Kebab, LI Festival Catering, the Manhasset Bay Sportsmen’s Club, Port Youth Activities, Rosie’s Food Truck, Schmear Marekt and Bakery, The Wild Goose and Yummy Gyro. For sweet treats locals will find delicious choices from Ralph’s Italian Ices and Schmear Market and Bakery. Everyone in Port knows Mel’s Ice Cream truck, which will be located in Sunset Park, by the Art in the Park exhibits. Come hungry; residents can feast all day at HarborFest.
HarborFest will showcase free live entertainment in front of the “Pride of Cow Bay” Tugboat Museum at the entrance to the Dock. “Harmony Sky” will get everyone in the mood for fun with the opening act at 10:15 a.m. HarborFest’s popular nautical singers, “Stout,” will return to perform their rousing melodies at 11 a.m., 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. Martial arts will take center stage with a World Tae Kwon Do demonstration at 12 p.m. Don’t miss the Alan Brown Blues Band at 1:30 p.m. The talented cast of the Red Stocking Revue will perform several fabulous numbers from Port’s favorite variety show, beginning at 2 p.m. The HarborFest live entertainment is sponsored by Maura Bros. & Co., Inc and Precision Work.
The mission of HarborFest is to promote environmental awareness and the HarborFest Committee offers free booths to organizations that promote the environment. There will be fascinating new hands-on demonstrations, special displays about Manhasset Bay and up-to-date information and products, all sponsored by A.A. Madison Taxi, Manorhaven Taxi and Port Washington Taxi. Grassroots Environmental Education has designed and organized a timely environmental education project called “Be A Friend To A Tree” for HarborFest. There will lots of learning opportunities for all ages, and the organization hopes to distribute small tree seedlings that people can take home and tend. Look for their green exhibit in the Enviro-Expo section. The Environmental Education program is sponsored by Orangetheory Fitness Port Washington and Sherwin Williams.
HarborFest’s very own Port Hole Pete will be at the helm of the “Pride of Cow Bay” Nautical Museum, where a new exhibit, “Preserve Our Bay: Photos by Les Cuneo,” will be unveiled. The exhibit was curated by Debbie Greco (Greco Integrated Communications) and contains spectacular photos of the Port Washington waterfront taken by local photographer Les Cuneo. Locals can view the exhibit through the tugboat’s portholes. It will be on display throughout the coming year, beginning at HarborFest. The exhibit is sponsored by Inform Fitness and Strong’s Marine.
HarborFest is made possible by the Town of North Hempstead, the Port Washington Chamber of Commerce and the Admiral Sponsorship of Anton Media Group. In addition to all the sponsors mentioned above, other HarborFest sponsors are Allstate Insurance—James Carew Agency, Anthony’s World of Floors, C2 Education, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, College Nannies + Tutors + Sitters, Dance Arts Centre, Island Athletics, Keller Williams Realty Gold Coast, Ken Maguire & Associates, the Little Gym Roslyn, Northwell Health, Port Salt Cave, Port Washington Calendar, Port Washington Federal Credit Union, Renewal By Andersen, Salvatore’s Coal Oven Pizza, Sheehan & Company CPAs, Sid Jacobson JCC—Cohen Parenting Center, Spectrum Designs Foundation, St. Francis Hospital, Sylvan Learning Center, Toms Point Marina and Total Dollar Insurance.
The Chamber of Commerce gives special thanks to The Art Guild, Ayhan’s Mediterranean Marketplace, Baxter’s Pond Foundation, CancerCare’s “Red Stocking Revue,” Grassroots Environmental Education, Nassau County, North Shore Vision—Dr. Scott Weil, PAL, Panera Bread, the Parent Resource Center, the Port Washington Fire Department, the Port Washington Police District, the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District, Schmear Bakery and Market, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Dina DeGiorgio, Town of North Hempstead Highway Deptartment, Town of North Hempstead Department of Parks and Recreation and the Village of Baxter Estates.
Admission to HarborFest is free. There is free parking, free town shuttle buses and a BID trolley at the LIRR station and Manorhaven Park. For additional information about HarborFest, call the Port Washington Chamber of Commerce at 516-883-6566, email office@pwcoc.org, visit www.pwcoc.org or www.pwguide.com or visit the Chamber on Facebook.
