Maritime Festival set to kick off this weekend

RANDEE DADDONA FILE PHOTO
The 21st Annual Maritime Festival will fill the streets and
shores of Greenport this weekend.

For the 21st consecutive year, Greenport is preparing to welcome the thousands of visitors who flock to the village for the Maritime Festival.  (Read our Maritime Festival Journal)
And they won’t be disappointed. This year’s event will be bigger and better than ever, festival coordinator George Peter said. Thanks to the efforts of philanthropist Roy Morrow, a part-time Greenport resident, Saturday’s parade will feature six or seven bagpipe bands. On the 20th anniversary of the completion of the Long Beach Bar “Bug” Lighthouse reconstruction, it’s appropriate that George Rowsom, who helped coordinate that project, will be parade grand marshal, Mr. Peter said.
“I think it’s the best parade I’ve ever been to,” Mr. Rowsom said of last year’s event. “It’s just like something out of Norman Rockwell.”
But even when the parade steps off on Main Street at 11 a.m. Saturday, the festivities will have been under way for more than 24 hours.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, plein air artists