Four Fun Festivals This Spring on Nantucket Island

Nantucket has 4 fun spring festivals: Nantucket Daffodil Fest in April, Nantucket Wine & Food Fest in May. AAN Plein Air Fest & Nantucket Book Festival in June.

NANTUCKET, MA, USA, April 1, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Nantucket Island¹ is getting ready for a 2022 spring season that is better than ever! Four fun festivals are being relaunched featuring in-person events that everyone can enjoy. There will be family activities, picnics, parades, adult-only activities, art exhibits, parties, lectures, gatherings, and even a chance to climb inside one of Nantucket's famous lighthouses!

The fun begins in April with the Nantucket Daffodil Festival³. This weekend of celebrating spring starts on Friday, April 22 with a Flower Power Party hosted by the Nantucket Historical Association. From 6 to 8:30 pm, guests can enjoy a look at new exhibitions around the museum, music and dancing, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, and, of course, the coveted prizes for the “best blooming” outfits.

On Daffy Saturday, April 23, the festival fun begins at 9:15 am, when dozens of antiques cars and some antique motorcycles -- all decorated for Daffy -- line up on Main Street for the public to see. This staging is in place in downtown Nantucket until 12 noon. At 10 am on Saturday, festival fun begins at Nantucket's Children's Beach (a moderate walk from Main Street) that includes the Daffodil Hat Pageant followed by the Children's Parade with kids and their decorated bicycles. After these signature annual events, there will be family fun that includes a NanPuppets Performance, a visit from Barnaby Bear, giveaways, and a Daffy Dog parade presented by the Nantucket Island Safe Harbor for Animals at 12:30 pm. There are so many events on Daffodil Saturday, that you'll want to plan an itinerary that enables you to see them all!

At 12 noon on Saturday, April 23, the Tailgate Picnic in 'Sconset begins. Parking is at a premium in Sconset and participants in the Antique Car Parade get reserved spots, so be prepared to park a few blocks away and walk to Main Street, Siasconset to stroll along the picnic route. Most of the picnics have themes and many are on display with creative costumes. A few will share their treats, but that is not a given and there will not be food for sale in Sconset, so bring your own basket if you want to enjoy a picnic lunch. Live music and other events usually liven up the picnic.

The Nantucket Garden Club's famous Daffodil Show opens to the public on Saturday, April 23 at 2 pm. Held in the greenhouses of Bartlett's Farm, this display of more than 700 daffodils plus daffodil flower arrangements and photographs of daffodils is truly a sight to behold! The show continues on Saturday until 5pm, and is open again on Sunday, April 24 from 10am to 4 pm. The show is free to all, with donations to the Garden Club gratefully accepted. The Nantucket Daffodil Show is approved by the American Daffodil Society.

Most people plan a visit to Nantucket for the entire weekend so they can participate in all the festival events. You can find travel and lodging info on The Insider's Guide to Nantucket.

The island goes quiet for a few weeks after Daffy until mid-May, when the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival opens on May 18. The festival was founded by Denis Toner, who created what has become one of the most prestigious events of its kind. The festival boasts a continually growing family of vintners, wineries, renowned chefs, and restaurants who offer tastings, seminars, luncheons, talks, receptions, and special dinners.

The more than 100 Luminaries expected to be part of the 2022 Nantucket Wine & Food Festival include Eduardo Chadwick, Hubert de Billy, Joe Donelan, Chef Lydia Shire, Chef Elizabeth Falkner, Paul Hobbs, Chef Joseph Keller, Emmanuel Lemoine, Chef Linkie Marais, Christian Moreau, Chef Bruce Sacino, Michael Silacci of Opus One, Eric Asimov of the New York Times, and Dionne Irvine.

The first half of June 2022 brings two festivals to Nantucket Island: The Plein Air Festival and The Nantucket Book Festival.

Plein Air is a beautifully low-key festival presented by the Artists Association of Nantucket. Island artist Frank Swift Chase was a huge proponent of en plein air painting, and he taught outdoor classes on Nantucket Island from 1920 through the early 1950s. The core of his regular students became the founders of the AAN. In this spirit, the Artists Association hosts Plein Air Nantucket every year and presents Frank Swift Chase awards: juried prizes given to artists who participate in the festival.

This year the festival is being held from June 14 to June 19, with the date of the annual Paint Out at Brant Point to be announced soon. During the Paint Out, artists paint outdoors in a public place, and spectators are invited to watch from a safe distance. There is no designated painting area artists interested in participating in Plein Air Nantucket and there is no entry fee. The majority of the work is painted on location and will be displayed in the Cecelia Joyce & Seward Johnson Gallery at 19 Washington Street, Nantucket.

The Nantucket Book Festival has become very much beloved by the Nantucket community and beyond in the ten years it has been held on our island. Held this year June 16 to 19, the festival will feature more than 30 presenting authors, who will give talks, join forums, and sign their books. Authors participating in 2022 include: Nathaniel Philbrick, Roy Blount, Jr., Alice Hoffman, Imbolo Mbue, Zak Salih, Sharon Stone, Louise Penny, Evan Osnos, Azar Nafisi, and Ridley Pearson.

In addition to the author events during the 2022 Nantucket Book Festival, Typewriter Rodeo will be available to write you an impromptu poem, and on June 18 there will be a special performance by The Rock Bottom Remainders, a band comprised of authors including Stephen King, Dave Barry, Roy Blount Jr., Greg Isles, Amy Tan, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Matt Groening, James McBride, Ridley Pearson, and Scott Turow.

If you'd like to attend one of these spring festivals on Nantucket Island, it's best to plan ahead at The Insider's Guide to Nantucket.

Suzanne Daub
Insider's Guide to Nantucket
email us here
+1 5082289165
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
Other

¹ https://nantucket.net/
² https://nantucket.net/festivals/
³ https://daffodilfestival.com/