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After a three-year hiatus, the Bay Shore Arts Festival returns to Main Street on June 12.
Bay Shore Chamber of Commerce President Donna Periconi teased that this year’s event will be “extra special.” Bay Shore’s business district continued to grow during the pandemic and there will be more businesses preparing for their very first arts festival than ever before.
Some of the more recent Main Street arrivals include surf-shop Nalu Dry Goods, women’s boutique Origin of Era and Goldie’s Gems.
“In 2001, when we first put the festival together, we had I think one restaurant open on Main Street,” Periconi said. “Look at us now, this year I’m going to be introducing three new restaurants and it just shows you the evolution of this event. I always felt that every year, people returned as it it became more popular to see the progress we made in our downtown.”
Meanwhile, Twin Veterinary Hospital will celebrate their 10th anniversary in business with a bouncy house blown up outside its office.
Periconi said she is preparing a week’s worth of yellow outfits, a tradition she undertook for the first 19 years of the festival, to ensure it went smoothly under sunny skies.
“The last one we did was 2019,” Periconi remembered. “It was so crowded that day. It was one of the most beautiful days we ever had.”
From 9:40 a.m. to 5 p.m., 15 musical groups are slated to perform at the Bay Shore Community Band Shell, located by the water in Dr. George S. King Park. On the itinerary are performers from the Bay Shore middle and high schools, the Greater Nassau Chorus, the Hibernian Festival Singers, the Babylon Chorale and the First Baptist Church of Bay Shore Choir.
Periconi said perhaps the biggest highlight for children is the petting zoo, where tiny guests can hop onto ponies for rides.
Live art will also be abound at the festival, including demonstrations from painters, wood carvers and pottery craftspeople. Plus, there will be plenty of food cooked up right in town.
Top photo: File photo of Bay Shore Arts Festival in 2016.
