While there is always great excitement and investment in our July 4 Weekend issue of Fire Island News, the fun really begins in the issue that follows. So much so that this issue practically wrote itself. Here you’ll find all the fun pictures, and our community columnists recap all the action. However, this is not just an issue about what was; it’s also about all the great things still ahead for the summer of 2026.
The Great South Bay Music Festival is a great example, and once again, we are running our annual sweepstakes for a chance to win two free VIP tickets. All music lovers are encouraged to enter!
Then there is our Events Calendar, the #1 resource for where to go and what to do on Long Island. Event organizers, did you know you can promote with us for free? Visit events.fireislandnews.com. The power is at your fingertips.
So, the Editor’s Window column opens in the July 17, 2026 edition of Fire Island News. Mighty words, but perhaps a little more elaboration is necessary.
First, let’s talk photos. After the July Fourth holiday, we receive many photos from our reporters and enthusiastic volunteers; all of them are great, yet there is never enough room to publish them all. Not publishing as many as we could felt like a waste, especially on the 250th anniversary of our nation. So we took a different approach from prior summers and opened the community columns, where they could really shine. Special thanks to Beth Batkiewicz, Kim Harris, Gery Haber, Robert Levine, and Claude Solnik on this front. Taken together, many corners of our coverage area are well represented.
Next, let’s talk music—the Great South Bay Music Festival, to be exact. This is our third summer partnering with Jim Faith and his team, who make this phenomenon happen. We believe in their mission and the great things they do—and our annual sweepstakes to win two VIP tickets is a great opportunity, with odds that are not bad at all. We also have an exclusive interview with Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, one of this year’s Festival headline acts. What a stroke of good luck that we were able to make that happen, and you will only find that interview here with us.
The Fourth of July holiday may be over, but the commemoration continues with a special exhibition at The Long Island Museum honoring Long Island’s own founding father, William Floyd, as seen through the lens of photographer Xiomáro, entitled The Seat of Action. Because the William Floyd Estate is operated by Fire Island National Seashore, it’s a subject dear to our hearts.
In this issue’s Behind the Dunes Real Estate section, reporter John Huber travels to Ocean Bay Park to take a look at a very special property on Michigan Walk, where writer Julie Goldsmith speaks with The Blind Spot’s Joseph Arceri about finding window treatments that best suit your needs.
Of course, there is the stunning floral cover that graces this issue of Fire Island News. Is it a bit ironic that the artist who created it is named Lori Bloom? Maybe yes, maybe no. However, she is part of a two-artist show at the Ocean Beach Historical Society that opens this weekend. Make a point of seeing it!
There is also so much more inside our July 17 edition, but you are going to read it yourself to find out all that’s in store.
