Groovy First Festival

The East Hampton Chamber of Commerce host its first summer festival, and it’s tipping its cap to Woodstock’s 50th anniversary, promising “groovy bands” performing songs that were played at the famed hippiefest five decades ago.

Presented by title sponsor, the YMCA East Hampton RECenter, this will be the first summer festival held in East Hampton Village in over 350 years. More than 50 booths will offer arts, crafts, and information, and there will be food vendors, including Mattitaco and Hampton Chocolates.

There will also be a Kidzone carnival with a giant American Ninja inflatable course, a climbing wall, inflatable axe throwing, lawn hockey, and more. A “Discover the Hamptons” experience will be hosted by wellness lifestyle experts Ann Marie Foley and Alissa Striano.
The festival will include a Bedside Authors Reading Booth with authors Patricia Gussin (“Come Home”), Laura Holman Byrne (“Tater Tot at the Chase: A Happy Helper”), Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg (“The Nine”), Natalie Banks (“The Canary’s Song”), Gregory Zeigler (“Travels With Max: In Search of Steinbeck’s America Fifty Years Later”), Nicola Harrison (“Montauk”), and Odete Martins Bigote (“A Cosmic Journey to the Unknown”).

Honoring 1969’s Summer of Love and Woodstock, live music from the Woodstock Music Festival will performed all day by local bands including the Potter-Tekulsky Band and The Space Bandits featuring Klyph Black and special guests, who will play over three hours of Woodstock covers beginning at 12:30 PM.

In keeping with the 1960s theme, visitors are encouraged to bring a white cotton shirt to tie-dye, or to purchase a shirt or bag to dye at the festival. Following the fair, the Main Beach fireworks, sponsored by the East Hampton Fire Department, will be held in the evening.

The East Hampton Chamber Festival takes place from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, August 17 in Herrick Park. For more info, visit www.easthamptonchamber.com.

bridget@indyeastend.com