Unruly Partying May Cause Nantucket To Move Fourth Of July Events

The Fourth of July party that draws thousands of people each year to Nantucket’s Nobadeer Beach on Independence Day may be coming to an end in 2016.

According to the Cape Cod Times, Nantucket Police Chief Bill Pittman floated the idea of moving the usual town festivities of fireworks and Main Street water fights to another day so the entire police force can focus on shutting down the beach party.

Pittman stated that it is one of the strategies that we are trying to put in place.

About five years ago, the Nobadeer Beach party was first started on Nantucket and has gone from about 3,000 people to about 7,000 last year.

Pittman stated that it is also hard for the island's 36 police officers to shut down a party with that many people and no official group to hold accountable.

Last year, about a half dozen people went to the hospital after overdosing on drugs and alcohol, and two cars were nearly destroyed. During one of the years, about 125 people were arrested at the party.

Selectmen will consider moving the official holiday celebrations possibly to July 2nd or July 5th. Selectman Tobias Glidden stated that he is 100 percent committed to changing the day of the festivities.

However, the date change could have an impact on the island’s businesses. Janet Schulte, interim executive director of the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, stated that those who made reservations at island hotels on the Fourth of July could miss the events that they hopefully had planned for.

A possible vote on the change is scheduled for the January 6th selectmen’s meeting.

With additional reporting by Sal Lopez