Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at Port Washington’s 32nd-annual Harborfest not just for pre-summer entertainment but also to engage with the community and appreciate Port’s natural environment.

Harborfest – hosted by the Port Washington Chamber of Commerce and the Town of North Hempstead – started as a week of environmental awareness with lectures that evolved into the festival as it is today, according to Bobbie Polay, executive director of the Chamber.

Polay said the event began at a time when the harbor was in a poor environmental state and Harborfest was intended to draw attention to its preservation and health.

“But it became a festival to celebrate Port Washington’s inherent nautical heritage,” Polay said, referencing the festival’s transformation from a week of education to a weekend of celebration.

Hundreds of Port Washington community members and those from beyond gathered along lower Main Street and onto the Town Dock for Harborfest.

The sun beamed down on people as they walked up and down the fair – stopping to look at vendors that caught their eyes, engaging with the local organizations at their booths on the harbor and grabbing a bite to eat from one of the many local establishments.

Even sunscreen was offered at the entrance to the festival to save the shoulders and faces of attendees who forgot their own.

The same luck was not apparent for those seeking the popular pickle on a stick, though, which sold out halfway through the day.

The craft fair included dozens of vendors from throughout Long Island, selling a variety of goods like golf pins, crocheted stuffed animals, jewelry, dog collars and ceramic dinnerware.

An array of local restaurants and food establishments joined in on the Port Washington festival, including newly opened Mesita selling chips and guacamole, Ayhan’s chicken sandwich and Smusht’s smushteenies – a miniature version of their popular ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Featured on the Town Dock parking lot along with the food court were a plethora of local organizations, from Port Washington businesses, elected officials and political candidates, fire department companies and the Chamber of Commerce. which co-hosted the event.

Throughout the day’s seven hours of festivities were a series of performances from local artists, singing popular songs like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and dancing to famed musical show tunes.

And for the first time in its 32 years, Harborfest included a Saturday night concert to spread the festival over two days.

While the festival’s mission is to honor Port’s harbor, Polay said it goes beyond that. She said it’s also a day when the community can come out and engage with their neighbors and local businesses and organizations.

Polay said she was thrilled with the outcome of the 32nd Harborfest, as she watched people with smiles across their faces walk around the festival.

“This is what Port Washington is all about,” Polay said.