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Popular North Fork strawberry festival kicks off tonight

By Stephanie Villani

The new feature of the Mattituck Lions Club 70th annual Strawberry Festival is a full-sized roller coaster for adults.(Credit: file photo)

The big tents are up on Sound Avenue, the carnival rides have been put together and the Mattituck Lions Club is gearing up to hull thousands of strawberries in preparation for the 71st annual Mattituck Strawberry Festival, which begins tonight.

The festival will once again bring the North Fork community together for five days of family-friendly fun, featuring live entertainment, carnival rides, fireworks, food vendors, arts and crafts, and its famous strawberry shortcake.

Courtesy photo

Held over Father’s Day weekend, the festival draws thousands of visitors from across Long Island and the tri-state area. Presented by Stony Brook Medicine and organized by the Mattituck Lions Club, the proceeds from the festival support charitable initiatives, scholarships, community programs, and service projects throughout the North Fork and beyond.

For full story and a schedule of all the festivities, see Northforker.com.

Stephanie Villani is a longtime resident of Mattituck and writes about the people and places that make up this unique part of the world. The recipient of the 2024 New York Press Association Best Personality Profile award for her feature story "Spirit in the Sound: Fishing with Mattituck's Sea Queen," she is the author of The Fisherman’s Wife, Sustainable Recipes and Salty Stories, and has worked with New York Sea Grant and Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Marine Program to support the region’s fishery. She and her commercial fisherman husband sold local fish, shellfish and smoked fish at NYC Greenmarkets for 32 years.

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