Of all the celebratory weekends on Nantucket (there are quite a few!), Daffy is my ultimate favorite. Working in retail for most of my life, I wasn’t able to attend Daffodil Weekend for a while. When I worked at Orange Street Video, the car parade went right down the road in front of the store. Since we were usually quiet at that time, I would stick my head out the window to watch the cars go by. That was as close as I got. Until I had kid and was lucky enough to get Saturday’s off!
When the Daffodil Festival returned in 2022, I was so excited for my daughter to finally be able to take part. Being a rather crafty child, she wanted to make something for the hat parade at Children’s Beach. Using a balloon and a flower pot, we created a giant Papier Mache daffodil! It was heavy and awkward but Cassidy wore it with pride. And, she won first place!
With one win under her belt, we now take Daffy very seriously. Our preparation starts about a month before, to create the hat. A few months ago, Cassidy informed me that she had a plan. She needed a hat, a bunch of artificial daffodils and some yellow fabric. It seems that providing these items is the extent of my hat responsibilities for this year.
As we get closer to the festival, we start closely watching all of the daffodils in our yard. 
Cassidy checks them out almost daily, narrowing in on which one she will pick to enter in the horticultural division of the Daffodil Flower Show. Over the years, we have planted more and more bulbs at our house. We planted some in the front, some in the back yard, some in part sun and some in full. We’ve also been sure to plant a few different varieties. The ultimate goal is to have tons of prize-winning choices no matter what the spring weather is like.
The week before Daffy is when my work really begins as I am in charge of making sure we have everything we need on the day itself. If you’ve been to the Daffodil Festival before, you know you need an outfit. Between all of the yellow and green clothes on display across the island and our festival sweatshirts, we usually have this covered.
Since we head into town by 9 and stay until after lunch, we need our picnic gear. A cooler, a blanket, some chairs and plenty of food. (While it’s officially just the two of us, we usually bring enough to feed anyone we run in to.) After checking out the cars on Main Street, we’ll set up camp at Children’s Beach. Between the Hat Parade, Bike Parade, Dog Parade, and everything else going, we spend most of the day there. Once Children’s starts to die down, we pack up and head to Sconset. There may not be much food left by the time we arrive but there’s still plenty to see. Before we head home, we stop in the daffodil field on the corner for some pics and that wraps things up until next year.
~ Kate O’Brien
Gift Manager