Annual Events & Festivals - Annual Events
Before you decide when to visit Cape Cod, take a look at what’s going on. Cape Cod is no longer just a summer playground. Now it’s a year-round vacation resort with events planned for all twelve months.
Arrive in May and you’ll find yourself at the largest sailboat regatta on the East Coast, the Figawi Race from Hyannis to Nantucket (be sure to make early reservations for their posh charity ball). In June, Cape Cod Heritage Week will lead you through the towns of the Cape, where you’ll discover a treasure chest of cultural, historical, and environmental riches. Flip the calendar to December, and you’ll find yourself strolling amid merry crowds through some of America’s most charming colonial villages decked out in Christmas card perfection.
Perhaps no event on Cape Cod surpasses the joyousness of the Portuguese Festival held in Provincetown the last weekend in June. In July Independence Day fireworks, patriotic banners, and parades mark the official start of summer, when arts and crafts fairs abound and village greens around the Cape host evening concerts. The circus and fairs come to town, and the annual Wampanoag Pow Wow brings together Native American Indians from across the nation for three days of tribal dances and events. The second weekend in August transforms Falmouth into a race track for thousands of runners who compete in the famous Falmouth Road Race.
Autumn is a truly magical time here—more so if you’re visiting Bourne for its Farm Pumpkin Day or Falmouth for Harvest Day. Museums and sanctuaries also offer an opportunity to explore the seasonal changes through programs and activities every day of the year.
Also occurring throughout the year, Cape Cod’s many charity events help maintain institutions vital to the social fabric of the Cape and give you great opportunities to have fun. You can golf with stars on the greens of Willowbend Country Club or listen to the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra at the Village Green in Hyannis.
We suggest that you call the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, or the chamber of commerce in the town you will be visiting, for an up-to-date listing of weekly events. A competition fomented recently over who could provide the most information about what to do on Cape turned out to be a boon for tourists. Check out the results in the Cape’s only year-round daily, the Cape Cod Times, and feel free to consider this a shameless plug for the author’s day job.
The following listing of events is arranged chronologically by month and then roughly by geography, so Provincetown festivals, for example are listed toward the end of the month. The year begins, appropriately, with New Year’s celebrations.
1. Cape And Islands Orchid Society Show
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: This annual show is sponsored by the Cape and Islands Orchid Society the last weekend in Jan. It includes exquisite blooming orchid displays, informative demonstrations on growing orchids and building greenhouses, and, of course, orchids for sale. The aroma alone is worth the price of admission. It is usually held at the Sea Crest Resort and Conference Center in Falmouth, but due to renovations there it is scheduled for the Sea Crest’s sister facility for at least 2010.
2. 10K, Relay
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: This event, usually held in late Feb, starts and finishes at the Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis. Some 300 marathoners, 1,500 half marathoners, 500 10Kers, and 50 relay teams wend their way along a scenic course that passes Craigville Beach, Hyannis Harbor, Lewis Bay, the John F. Kennedy Memorial, and the Kennedy Family Compound. The marathon is a Boston Marathon qualifying event.
3. Presidents’ Weekend Antique Show And Sale
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 775-2280
Description: Scheduled each year for the Sat and Sun of Presidents’ Day weekend, this show features more than 50 regional dealers who offer an array of antique furniture, glass, silver, jewelry, postcards, paintings, rugs, maps and prints, and china. The doors open at 10 a.m. This is a major fund-raiser for the Hyannis Public Library. Admission is $6.
4. Woods Hole Model Boat Show
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 548-7270
Description: You don’t have to be an enthusiast to enjoy yourself at this event, held in mid-Apr. Stroll through an indoor exhibit of large model boats, or join the enthusiasts down at Eel Pond for regattas featuring radio-controlled models of vintage yachts from the 1930s.
5. Daff O’Ville Days
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 428-6327
Description: Sponsored by the Osterville Business and Professional Association, this village-wide celebration takes place during the last week in April. Events include an Arbor Day celebration, Mad Hatter Tea Party, bagpipe music, wine tastings, and a book sale. The fun continues with outdoor grills, a fashion show, and an antique car display.
6. Brewster In Bloom
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 896-3500
Description: An annual and eagerly awaited spring event, Brewster in Bloom started as a small festival celebrating Brewster’s beautiful daffodil display. The festival is now three days of fun and games, including such activities as a chowder contest, dance, flea market, golf tournament, road race, parade, band concert, arts and crafts fair, ice-cream social, inn tour, and children’s activities. And all the while there are more than 100,000 blooming daffodils lining the streets. The event takes place the last weekend in Apr, sometimes falling into the first days of May. Tickets are required for certain events, like the golf tourney and the dance; otherwise, most of Brewster in Bloom activities are free.
7. Cape Cod Maritime Days
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 362-3828
Description: Maritime Week is a major Cape-wide event that highlights the landmarks and sites comprising Cape Cod’s wealth of maritime history. This mid-May celebration is coordinated by the Cape Cod Commission, which arranges lighthouse tours, Coast Guard open houses, special cruises, walks, and lectures throughout the week. In Yarmouthport, a village that was once a major port, you can take self-guided walking tours of sea captains’ homes and attend open houses at museums, getting from place to place via the free trolley service. All events are free.
8. Rhododendron’S Blooming
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 888-3300
Description: One of the largest and best collections of rhododendrons is found in Sandwich, and many are in bloom the last week in May and during the first two weeks in June. You may participate in tours and lectures, shop for plants at the plant sale, and, of course, view the multitude of beautiful rhododendron colors. Admission to Heritage Museums & Gardens is $12, seniors $11, ages 6 to 16 $6, ages 5 and younger free.
9. Green Briar Herb Festival
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 888-6870
Description: Benefiting the Thornton Burgess Society, this free event held over three days in mid-May offers lectures on herbs, special demonstrations, exhibits, and wildflower garden walks. You can get a taste of the herbs at a wonderful luncheon (reservations are required) and buy plants just in time to start your own herb garden.
10. Woods Hole Illumination Weekend
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 548-8500
Description: This event, held over a weekend in late May, provides a great introduction to charming Woods Hole. Harbor tours, carriage rides, Coast Guard rescue enactments, and music under the stars will keep you occupied while you’re waiting for the main attraction: nightly illuminations of boats and businesses throughout Woods Hole Village, Eel Pond, Great Harbor, and Little Harbor, all free.
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
12. Spring Fling
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 945-5199, (800) 715-5567
Description: Chatham gets a little crazy with spring fever in May with its annual Spring Fling. There’s a wild and crazy hat parade, clowns, jugglers, a pet show, and face painting. Sponsored by the Chatham Merchants Association, this family-oriented event is held on the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend.
13. Arts And Crafts Shows
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: The Artisans’ Guild of Cape Cod hosts six arts and crafts shows during the year; the first takes place on Memorial Day weekend (the others are held in early July, early and late Aug, early Oct, and late Nov). Some shows are held on the front lawn of Nauset Middle School, others in the school’s gymnasium, and the late Aug show is at Cape Cod Academy. There is plenty of parking available at the schools and no admission fee.
14. Strawberry Festival
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 548-8500
Description: About a century ago, Falmouth was one of the largest producers of strawberries in the eastern United States. The tradition continues as seemingly everyone in town shows up on the Village Green across from the St. Barnabas Church to feast on fresh strawberries from Tony Andrews’ Farm in East Falmouth. You can also buy crafts and baked goods throughout the day.
15. Annual Wcod Chowder Festival
City: Cape Cod, MA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (508) 775-5678
Description: Sample delicious chowders cooked up by some of Cape Cod’s best restaurants at the Annual WCOD 106FM Chowder Festival, but be sure to get to the Melody Tent before the chowder buckets run dry. The event is usually held toward the end of June, but the exact date depends on the Melody Tent entertainment schedule. Call for a schedule and the price of admission.