News and Events for Nantucket Island
(Location Update: due to rain, this event is being held in the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club) This Saturday, August 22, youngsters and their families are encouraged to walk to Children’s Beach for the Nantucket Book Foundation’s annual Children’s Book Day. In partnership with the Nantucket Cultural District, NBF has […]
“Leave me alone, I’m just carrying on an old family tradition…” these sardonic lyrics from the Hank Williams Jr. classic 1979 song Family Tradition still punch hard after all these years. Hank Jr. didn’t have an easy road. He had to climb past the enormous shadow of his dad, a man who had died when Jr. was only three years old. But climb he did. Hank Jr. developed his own style and sound. He lived his own life. And yes, he’s always been proud of his father and what the original Hank Williams had left for him. Both men have become true American country music icons.
There are some things you don’t realize you’ve stopped seeing until you see them again. For me, this summer, it was lightning bugs.
Last year at this time, the plants in our wild spaces looked a little different. Rather than lush and green, we were faced with dry, desiccated plants looking more like they were trying to survive a desert than a coastal island. Many deciduous trees were going dormant much earlier than usual, with leaves changing color and shedding off trees and shrubs. It looked more like late October than August on-island. In August of 2025 we were in a designated level 2 drought. Not only were there water restrictions, but the community as a whole was noticing the effects of drought on the open space around us. The crispy leaves and dry grasses were much more obvious that we were in a drought.
The Nantucket Film Festival will launch its inaugural NFF Summer Doc Series, this week from August 25 to 27, bringing five acclaimed documentaries to the Dreamland Theater across three days, with filmmakers and film subjects joining NFF for conversations following each screening. On Tuesday, August 25 at 7 pm, Mighty […]
With more than a thousand works of art, artifacts, and treasures on display in nine premium galleries plus films, daily programs, and a fully accessible rooftop deck offering stunning views, the Nantucket Whaling Museum on Broad Street is the best way to discover our island’s fascinating maritime history and to gain a deeper appreciation for the people and events that helped define Nantucket.
There is no place quite like Nantucket in the summer.
Every June, the island seems to wake from a long sleep. Window boxes overflow, hydrangeas begin their slow explosion into blue, the harbor fills with sails, restaurants spill onto sidewalks, music drifts through open doors, and every sunset somehow convinces us that we’ve never seen one quite like it before. The island becomes brilliant. Not simply beautiful, but brilliant. It shines with an energy that’s difficult to explain to someone who has never been here. It is easy to understand why people spend all year dreaming about these few short months.
