Fun, food, and safety for Nautical Mile Festival

In addition to enjoying fun, food, and fellowship, safety is a primary concern for Freeport’s 32nd Nautical Mile Festival tomorrow (Saturday, June 4). 

Mayor Robert Kennedy and village officials gathered on the Mile outside the River House Grille today for a news conference to update residents on the security measures being taken. 

Kennedy first outlined the colorful variety that attendees can expect from the festival.

“We’re expecting great weather tomorrow,” Kennedy said. “We’ll have over 70 street vendors with food, jewelry, clothing and other great items here tomorrow. A steel drum band will be right here through the entire festival, and amusement rides for our children will be up from 10 a.m. to dusk at about 8:00 p.m.”

Consideration for the Nautical Mile merchants is important, too, said Kennedy. “We’ll be closing the festival up at exactly 6:00 tomorrow night,” he said, “so the restaurants can have all the access to residents coming down to dinner.”

Three to four thousand visitors are anticipated, and the security measures this year are more extensive than ever. 

“We have a multitude of officers assigned to maintain order here at the festival tomorrow,” said Freeport Police Chief Carl Hetzel. “We also have assistance from the Metropolitan Transit Authority using their bomb-sniffing canines, and also Nassau County Police with the use of their horses to help us open up the street.” 

Ray Maguire, executive director of the Freeport Fire Department, added, “We’re going to have many firefighters and EMS assets spread throughout the festival so we can have a really fun, safe family environment.”

Kennedy went into more detail.

“I’m not at liberty to tell you all of the advanced security techniques that we’re employing,” Kennedy concluded, “but believe me there is every consideration that you can possibly imagine by our fire and police departments in the Village of Freeport, Nassau County Police and the Office of Emergency Management, to the extent where we have clear garbage pails being put out with clear plastic bags so it can be seen what’s in them, and routine timely removal of garbage bags on the Mile. We also have police detective undercovers and many volunteers. And there’s plenty of surveillance. We have people watching 24 hours a day what’s going on down here.”

“Tomorrow will be a fabulous day,” said Monica Bennett, secretary to the Freeport Chamber of Commerce. “It’s getting better and better down here on the Mile. It’s being revitalized. There’s so much going on.”

“We will have something for everybody,” said Victoria Dinielli, director of the Freeport Recreation Center, who oversees the festival. “It’s a great family fun day in the Village of Freeport.”