Harbor Development Committee

Hingham All American Picnic and Dance Party

July 2 @ 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Hingham Harbor Bandstand, 95 Otis Street

Gather at Hingham Harbor for All American Picnic and Dance Party on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Hosted at the Hingham Bathing Beach, this family-friendly evening is presented by the Town’s Harbor Development Committee in partnership with the Hingham Historical Society. Festivities begin at 3:00 PM with a variety of kids activities. Food trucks arrive at 5:00 PM, located near the Victory (Iron Horse) Statue at the Beach House at the Bathing Beach, which will have extended hours for the event. At 7:00 PM, crowd favorite Booty Vortex takes the stage at the harbor bandstand to lead a free community dance party!

Parking is available at the Bathing Beach parking lot and the Station Street parking lot.

Mission

Hingham Harbor Development Committee (HDC) is an advisory committee to the Select Board. HDC is a gathering place for ideas and a link to other Town boards and commissions to consider, discuss, design, and construct facilities that will maximize both active and passive harbor use, appreciation and accessibility by the largest possible cross section of the Town’s Citizens. HDC is a 7-member volunteer committee appointed by the Select Board with ex-officio status for the Harbormaster and Town Engineer

Shellfishing

Recreational shellfish harvesting in Hingham has been conditionally approved by the Department of Fisheries in a select area on the shoreline between low and high-tide from HMC/Barnes Wharf to the tip of World’s End, with the goal to allow shell fishing sometime this late Spring/early summer 2026. The Town will need to put regulations in place including licensing requirements, etc. A draft of the regulations is in process by Hingham’s shellfish constable. This first step is to allow harvesting of naturally grown soft shell clams, oysters, etc.

Issues to be considered are how people will access the harvesting areas, how to inspect/verify their harvest, etc. A subsequent step can be development of an aqua-culture plan, which would entail seeding of shellfish for cultivation purposes. The department of Fisheries will need to grant approval of additional locations where shellfish can be cultivated, which is contingent upon water quality testing. Aqua-culture/commercial harvesting in future years will involve consideration of navigation visual effects upon abutters, dock access, etc.

To educate the general public about shell fishing, the Hingham Harbor Development Committee will sponsor an educational event to be presented by Mass Oyster on Sunday May 9th at 30 Summer street.

Hingham is one of 3 towns (Hull and Winthrop are the others) that has been provisionally granted approval for shell fishing.

Resources for general information about shell fishing of oysters and clams:

Massachusetts Oyster Project
How an Upweller Works
Oyster Upweller Project - Hyannis Harbor
Upwellers and Downwellers - Working with Hatchery Spat | NSW Farmers
Grading Oysters at a Smaller Size - Working with Hatchery Spat | NSW Farmers Association

The Hingham Harbormaster has additional details about Shellfishing in Hingham.