Fairhaven Lost Its Tourism Office in July. Here's Who Runs the Fall Now.

Saturday, September 19 was set aside for Swords & Sails: A Seaport Medieval Faire, which was scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. It was canceled in June. Five weeks later, Saturday, October 24 has a maritime open house on Center Street in the late morning and the Halloween Horribles Parade leaving Livesey Park at dusk. The town organizes neither one.

That gap shows how Fairhaven's calendar actually works. The town's tourism office produced a small number of big festivals and kept one shared calendar of everything else. When the office closed, those festivals stopped and so did the shared calendar. Most of the other events had always been run by someone else, and they are still running.

What the June vote actually removed

At the June 9, 2026 town election, Question 2 asked voters to approve a Proposition 2½ override that would have raised an extra $649,178 in property taxes. The money would have covered fire department overtime, the tourism department, the highway department and the school department. The question failed, 1,906 to 1,416, as reported in Fairhaven Neighborhood News. Because the override failed, the base budget took effect, and that budget had already eliminated tourism.

The Town of Fairhaven now says Discover Fairhaven, formally the Office of Tourism, Community & Economic Development, "has been eliminated, effective July 1st, 2026." The office started as the Office of Tourism 30 years ago. In 2024 it was renamed and given a wider job that included community programming and business support.

In a Facebook post reported by Fairhaven Neighborhood News, former director Alyssa Botelho named the events that would not go on:

• Food Truck Flavor Fest
• Swords & Sails
• The Olde-Tyme Holiday events at Town Hall, though she noted that separate events at the nonprofits may continue
• The free historical walking tours

The office did more than run events. In the same post, as quoted by Fairhaven Neighborhood News, she wrote:

"The Office of Tourism, Community, and Economic Development has managed social media across more than 30 Town of Fairhaven pages. As responsibilities are redistributed across departments, there may be delays or gaps in how information is posted."

At its June 15 meeting, the Select Board talked about paying for the department through donations or grants. The town administrator told the board that Botelho had declined to stay on under that arrangement. The board tabled the idea, according to Fairhaven Neighborhood News.

October was never the tourism office's month

Compare the canceled list with what is still on the calendar this fall. The canceled events were large single-day festivals produced by the town. The October and November events are run by a library, a militia reenactment group, a neighborhood association, a maritime school, a theater company, and the town's recreation and cable TV departments. Each has its own budget, volunteers and audience, and none depended on the tourism office's payroll.

The Fairhaven Village Militia also kept its Evenings at the Fort series going, with a special "Hauntings at the Fort" program of folklore and theatrical storytelling scheduled for October 14 at Fort Phoenix. It was free with advance registration.

Amore is director of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. His October 22 talk covers his book about Myles Connor and the 1975 theft of a Rembrandt from a Boston museum. Admission is free, and donations are welcome. Fairhaven TV's party adds a block party from 4 to 5 p.m. before the main event, so families can show up an hour early.

Saturday, October 24 shows the pattern

Two events on one day, run by two different kinds of organizations, are a good example of how the fall calendar works now.

Northeast Maritime Institute holds Fairhaven Maritime Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 15 Center St., with an open house, food, games and music. Putnam Murdock plays from noon to 2 p.m. The school is opening its own doors on its own schedule.

The Horribles Parade steps off from Livesey Park at 5 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, October 25. The North Fairhaven Improvement Association posts the parade on its own calendar, separate from any town office.

The open house ends two hours before the parade starts, so a family can go to both on the same Saturday. Neither event's listing mentions the other. Before July, one office's calendar would have shown both. Now each organization lists only its own event.

The newest storefront was welcomed by volunteers

The tourism office used to handle business support too, and that work hasn't stopped completely. It has moved to volunteers. On September 24, the town's Economic Development Committee held a ribbon cutting for Krave Poutinerie at 2 Pequod Road, at the corner of Alden Road in the Bask parking lot. Fairhaven Neighborhood News reported that committee chair Cathy Melanson welcomed the shop and asked people to come support it.

Owner Shelley Ring told the paper the shop had been open for about a month. Poutine is French fries, white cheddar cheese curds and gravy, and Ring said the gravy is made every morning. Her favorite variation is the Smokey Swine, which adds pork, and the menu also has a garlic parmesan crispy chicken version. Krave is open Thursday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6:30 p.m. It's closed Monday through Wednesday, which is worth checking before a weeknight drive over.

Where the listings live now

According to Botelho's post, the Discover Fairhaven website stays online until December but won't post any new events. Its 2026 signature events page says the rest of the season has been canceled. Any listing still on the site dates from before July 1 and may be out of date.

These are the pages that carry this fall's events directly from the organizers:

1. Millicent Library events calendar for talks and programs, including events held at Town Hall.
2. The Town of Fairhaven calendar for Recreation programs such as Spookfest.
3. The North Fairhaven Improvement Association event calendar for the Horribles Parade and its rain date.
4. Fairhaven TV for its own events. The station also recorded the Krave ribbon cutting.
5. Fairhaven Neighborhood News, whose weekly issues carry calendar items from groups like the Village Militia and Northeast Maritime Institute.

December is still undecided

The Olde-Tyme Holiday Village had been scheduled for Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Town Hall portion is canceled. Botelho's note that the nonprofits' separate events may continue leaves room for parts of the day to come back under other organizers. No group has announced it will take over the Town Hall program.

The next date to watch is Tuesday, November 17. The Select Board's July 27 meeting packet proposed calling a Special Town Meeting for that day. In June, the town administrator told the board that only Town Meeting can appropriate funds, including the increased state aid that had been announced. That means any new money for town programs has to go through a Town Meeting vote. Whether tourism will appear on that warrant has not been announced.

Two days earlier, on November 15, Seaglass Theater Company marks its tenth year with a 3 p.m. gala concert at Unitarian Memorial Church. South Coast Today reports that the concert also marks a leadership transition at the company. That concert is the last confirmed event on this fall's list before the town decides what happens with the holidays.

Want to know how changes in town services and events affect your home's value? Our Fairhaven neighborhood page covers the town in more detail, and Hovan Property Group can give you a local read on your home and your plans. Schedule a consultation.