Nantucket Events and Activities
Events in Nantucket include film festivals, regattas, and a Christmas Stroll. Scan the event calendar below to see what's happening during your vacation to Nantucket.
April 2012 Nantucket Events
Daffodil Festival Weekend - 508-228-1700
The weekend has grown into a full-scale celebration of winters thaw, joyous for both islanders and visitors alike. Daffodils adorn the Island?s roadsides, gardens and shop windows with blossoms of yellow, orange, white and even pale pink. The Festival?s grand event, is the Antique Car Parade, featuring over 100 daffodil-bedecked antique cars (pre-registration necessary for participation.) After winding through town and across the island to the charming village of Siasconset, participants join residents and visitors for the Daffodil Tailgate Picnic. Other highlights include the Nantucket Garden Club's Daffodil Show, The Annual Daffy Dog Parade, Children?s Daffodil Parade and The Daffy Hat Pageant.
May 2012 Nantucket Events
Nantucket Wine Festival - 508-228-1128
Nantucket Island becomes host to over 100 wineries of international acclaim with special events including celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, seminars, auctios and new Lunch Symposia. Come sip wine in grand homes and dine in Nantucket's world-class restaurants! Call for reservations or visit NantucketWineFestival.com.
Figawi Weekend - 508-221-6891
Serious fun, camaraderie, and sailing... that's what Figawi Race Weekend is all about. Over 240 boats & 1000+ sailors will convene for the Northeast's first major regatta to kickoff every summer.
June 2012 Nantucket Events
Spring Restaurant Week - 508-228-1700
Experience exceptional food, wine and Nantucket hospitality in many of the island's great restaurants. Three course dinners offered at $25 and $45. For additional information visit NantucketRestaurantWeek.com.
Nantucket Film Festival - 508-325-6274
For over ten years, the Nantucket Film Festival has been renowned for its eschewing of Hollywood glamour and its focus on the substantive art of screen writing. The festival boasts independent films, celebrity panels and readings and the annual screenwriters tribute. For more information, please call or visit NantucketFilmFestival.com.
July 2012 Nantucket Events
July 4 - 4th of July Celebrations - 508-228-7213 or 508-228-0925
Main Street: festivities from 10am - noon. At Childrens Beach: community games, races & band concert, 5pm - dusk. Fireworks at dusk at Jetties Beach.
August 2012 Nantucket Events
August 11 - Annual Boston Pops Concert - 508-825-8181
The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will be performing again on Jetties Beach to benefit the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Tickets are now limited to 8,000 to keep the size of the crowd in line with the beach capacity. Reserved tickets are now on sale online only.
August 11-19 - Nantucket Race Week - 508-228-6600
Nantucket Race Week is an eight-day experience that marshals the entire Nantucket community together in a fun-filled week of regattas, awards ceremonies, and parties. For further information visit www.NantucketRaceWeek.org.
August 19 - Opera House Cup Race - 508-228-6600
The Opera House Cup Regatta was the first all-wooden, single-hulled classic boat regatta on the East Coast, and it attracts some of the finest sailboats in the country. www.OperaHouseCup.org.
August 18 - Annual Sandcastle & Sculpture Day - 508-228-1700
A late-summer ritual for some, families and teams return year after year to vie for top honors. A visit to Jetties Beach to watch the sculpting in action or view the finished sculptures at sunset is well worth the trip! The rules are simple - be creative! Tools and building aids, ornaments and decorations all may be used, but none are supplied. Contestants are urged to work with biodegradable items, and must take away any non-biodegradable items used. Pre-registration is necessary.
August 18-19 - Annual Demolition Derby - 508-228-4347
Come to Tom Nevers for affordable fun for the whole family.
September 2012 Nantucket Events
Fall Restaurant Week - 508-228-1700
Experience exceptional food, wine and Nantucket hospitality in many of the island's great restaurants. Three course dinners offered at $25 and $45. For additional information visit NantucketRestaurantWeek.com.
October 2012 Nantucket Events
October 6 - Nantucket Cranberry Festival - 508-228-2884
Enjoy fresh cranberries, music, culinary classes, hay rides, and more!
December 2012 Nantucket Events
November 30 - December 2 - Christmas Stroll Weekend - 508-228-1700
A weekend full of Holiday cheer. Enjoy decorated trees, shop windows and residential door contest. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive to the island via a Coast Guard vessel and ride up Main Street in a horse-drawn carriage accompanied by the Town Crier. Carolers in Victorian costumes, bell ringers, student choirs and other musicians perform on the Main Street stage as well as stroll through town performing, while visitors enjoy Nantucket?s unique shops and restaurants. The Nantucket Whaling Museum will be transformed into a festive winter wonderland featuring over seventy brilliantly decorated trees designed by local merchants, nonprofit organizations, community members, artists, artisans, and school children. Come join us for a quaint, traditional Christmas Celebration.