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By Melanie Karniewich

Families and friends gathered in Port Jefferson on Oct. 19 and 20 to embrace the season’s autumn spirit during the village’s annual Oktober Harvest Festival.

The festival, sponsored by the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District in cooperation with the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson, featured more than 30 events spread over two days.

Saturday’s festivities began with the Port Jefferson Historical Society’s 37th annual outdoor country auction, followed by the village-wide chowder crawl. Later, a costumed dog parade trotted down East Main Street while the evening wrapped up with the (Mostly) True Things storytelling show.

Barbara Ransome, director of operations at the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, has worked in the village for 15 years. She said the festival not only creates memories for attendees but provides an important opportunity for local businesses to shine.

“Spreading the activities around so that businesses can really benefit — spreading the crowd around — is really important,” Ransome said. She embodies this idea through the Pirate Scavenger Hunt, which leads participants to six small businesses in town with six individual clues. When they find the right business, they are greeted by a member of Pirates at Large, a Patchogue-based nonprofit entertainment troupe, which has worked with the chamber of commerce for many community events.

“Port Jefferson is really the place to be,” said George Overin, better known as Monti Babson, a  member of Pirates at Large. In addition to the scavenger hunt, attendees enjoyed a tractor hayride, classic cars, friendly but spooky harvest walkers welcoming the community and face painting. There was also a self-guided fall art walk that began a few days before the festival, showcasing 17 artists across 22 locations throughout the village.

Visitors have plenty of opportunities to discover what the town has to offer as the cold weather approaches. Port Jefferson will also have the Festival of the Trees beginning on Dec. 1, along with the 28th annual Charles Dickens Festival on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8. 

Melanie Karniewich is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

It was a day full of fall festivities on Saturday, Oct. 23 when the Village of Port Jefferson hosted its 2021 Harvest Fest that showcased tons of Halloween fun, while supporting local businesses.

From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., the Port Jefferson Harbor Education & Arts Conservancy held a window painting contest to decorate the outside of the Village Center. Nearly two-dozen children grabbed their paint and brushes to show off their favorite Halloween-inspired art skills that included everything from steaming hot chocolate in a mug to ghosts, skeletons and a creepy toy doll.

While the kids got artistic, parents traveled throughout the village to taste and enjoy chowders from participating restaurants in a chowder crawl, along with seasonal beverage tastings from the Port Jeff Brewing Company, The Whiskey Barrel and Port Jeff Liquors.

Along with pumpkin carvings and trick-or-treat bagging, families were able to go on a secret scavenger hunt — which featured an appearance from the Pirates at Large.

The afternoon ended with a costumed dog parade along East Main Street, where furry friends dressed to the nines from rainbows to spooky spiders.

— All photos by Julianne Mosher