Orleans Select Board Authorizes Nauset Beach Music Festival for Second Consecutive October

ORLEANS -- June 17, 2026, Orleans Select Board unanimously backs Nauset Beach music festival and ocean stewardship resolution. The board voted on June 17 to authorize the Outermost Roots and Blues Festival at Nauset Beach for October 10-11, 2026, following a presentation by Friends of Nauset Beach President Mike McNamara, who cited rising operational costs and lighter-than-expected 2025 attendance due to bad weather while noting the group donated a $30,000 Polaris beach vehicle to the town's natural resources department. In the same session the board adopted a resolution endorsing the town's bid to become what Town Sustainability Coordinator Amanda described as "the first ocean-friendly community in the country" under the Surfrider Foundation's designation program, a step the foundation required before formally accepting Orleans's proposal. The board also approved revisions to its environmental sustainability and climate action omnibus policy, clearing up language limiting a pollution prohibition to town-owned property and correcting a section cross-reference, and received word from Finance Director Cedric that Nauset Regional School District over-assessed Orleans by $32,659 across the past six fiscal years, with no repayment mechanism yet in place. Five residents were unanimously appointed to town committees, including Cecil Newcomb as a regular member of the Veterans Committee, who said his goal is to push the long-delayed veterans memorial park project to completion.