Community Corner

Oak Bluffs Harbor Festival: 'Gritty, Earthy and Hometown'

The 20th annual Harbor Festival featured live music, food and antique cars.

Oak Bluffs native Keith Marino hasn't missed a Harbor Fest yet.

"I've gone every year," said Marino, moving his hips to Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish. "It's my neighborhood."

That’s a long-term commitment—this past Saturday marked the 20th year that the Oak Bluffs Association (OBA) has kicked off the summer season with Harbor Fest. The free event features live music, local vendors, and a parade. For the sixth year, it was topped off by the OBA’s summer solstice celebration. The jam-packed day ended with a fireworks over Ocean Park.

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The entire fest is put together very well, Marino said. "It's gritty, earthy, hometown—it's what Oak Bluffs is all about."

Local music group Johnny Hoy and the Blue Fish played outside Nancy's Restaurant & Snack Bar to a packed restaurant and nearby observers.

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"He [Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish] is top shelf," Marino said, nodding his head to the music.

For many Islanders, festivals provide entertainment and an excuse to have a good time. It’s a great way to help spread the word about upcoming events, new businesses and good causes. For Verna Carr and her daughter Kym Cyr, who manned a booth, it was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed.

"Our main focus is spay and neutering," said Cyr, the owner and operator of Helping Homeless Animals. "The festival is great because people ask a lot of questions."

Carr said she is used to having "a cage in each arm" as she works to save feral cats. She can't even remember how many animals she has saved.

For Harbor Fest, she brought with her many of those animals, including a batch of furry kittens whose mother had been run over by a car. The kittens drew a crowd of children—and yes, plenty of questions. The batch of newborns came from a family of 17 by three different mothers. 

"It upsets me to think animals aren't being spayed," said Carr, though she acknowledged that the problem has gotten better over the years.

Merely 20 feet away, the Oak Bluffs Homemakers, a group that's been together for over 75 years, sold $10 books full of Martha’s Vineyard tales.

The money from the books benefits local charities and organizations, said Barbara Murphy.

As the day-long Harbor Fest came to a close and vendors began to close down shop, local law-enforcement officers got to work closing down busy Circuit Avenue to traffic. Parked cars gave way to musicians and revelers, who were treated to a parade of antique cars. 

Seated on a nearby bench, Kevin and Joann Ryan of Edgartown took in the sunset and the parade, which drew hoots and hollers from inside restaurants and prompted a flurry of camera flashes.

"We wanted to come today to Harbor Fest to see how it’s grown over the years," Joann said.

This was the first time for the couple to truly see the festival and enjoy every second of it. 

"This is the first year we haven't worked a table," Kevin said

Joann couldn't have been happier. 


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