Nantucket Daffodil Festival 2027: The Complete Guide to Daffy Weekend

The 2027 Nantucket Daffodil Festival will take place Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, April 25, 2027. Daffy Weekend is one of Nantucket's signature spring traditions, bringing the island together for daffodil displays, decorated antique cars, community events, the Nantucket Garden Club's Daffodil Show, and the traditional trip out to 'Sconset.

The Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce has confirmed the festival dates but has not yet published the full 2027 event-by-event schedule. This guide will be updated as additional details are announced.

Every spring, daffodils bloom across Nantucket and the island erupts in yellow. The Nantucket Daffodil Festival, organized by the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce, transforms the island into one of New England's most celebrated springtime gatherings, with a beloved antique car parade, a juried flower show, and a community spirit that reflects everything that makes Nantucket more than a summer destination.

Bernadette Meyer has spent more than twenty of those Daffy Weekends on Nantucket, and she will tell you the moment the first antique car turns onto Main Street still stops her in her tracks. Here she shares what the festival means to the island, how it began, and why there may be no better weekend to understand Nantucket as a place worth calling home.

What Has Been Confirmed for Daffodil Festival 2027?

The Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce has confirmed that the 2027 Nantucket Daffodil Festival will take place April 22 to 25, 2027. The Nantucket Garden Club's 51st Annual Daffodil Show will take place April 23 to 25, 2027.

The complete 2027 event schedule has not yet been released. The Antique Car Parade, the 'Sconset Tailgate Picnic, the children's activities at Children's Beach and the rest of Daffy Weekend's celebrations are long-standing festival traditions, but their 2027 dates, times and locations shouldn't be treated as confirmed until the Chamber announces them. For the latest schedule, check the Chamber's official Daffodil Festival page.

The 2026 festival, held April 23 to 26, was the 50th Nantucket Daffodil Festival.

Daffy Weekend at a Glance

• The 2027 Nantucket Daffodil Festival takes place Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, April 25, 2027. The Chamber will publish the detailed schedule closer to the festival.
• Daffodils now bloom along roadsides across the island each spring, the result of nearly half a century of planting begun by Jean MacAusland and the Nantucket Garden Club and carried on by island schoolchildren.
• The weekend's traditions center on the antique car parade from Main Street out to a tailgate picnic in 'Sconset, joined by the Garden Club's juried Daffodil Show, the Daffy Hat Pageant, and the NiSHA Daffy Dog Parade.
• Daffy Weekend marks the unofficial start of the island's season, and the sense of community it reveals is part of what makes Nantucket special as a place to live.

How the Daffodil Festival Began

The story began on May 2, 1975, when the Nantucket Garden Club, encouraged by member Jean MacAusland, organized the first Nantucket Daffodil Show. That debut show drew 250 entries and was officially recognized by the American Daffodil Society, and the Nantucket Board of Selectmen declared the week of April 28 to May 4 "Nantucket Daffodil Week." MacAusland, whose vision and energy drove the earliest years, was just getting started.

In 1978, she spearheaded an ambitious project: to plant one million daffodil bulbs around the island. The effort started with 30,000. The following year, MacAusland personally purchased eight tons of bulbs, which were planted that September with the help of community members and local organizations. With additional plantings every year since, and the natural spread of the hardy bulbs through Nantucket's sandy soil, daffodils now bloom along roadsides and in yards across the island each April. The Garden Club continues the tradition today, donating thousands of bulbs annually to be planted by island schoolchildren, who grow their own entries for the following spring's show. To mark the Daffodil Show's 50th anniversary in 2025, the Club funded the planting of 50,000 more bulbs.

The festival moved from May to late April in 1980 and has grown steadily ever since. The antique car parade and 'Sconset tailgate, first held in 1978, became the weekend's signature tradition. By 1983, the parade had grown so long that, as it looped through Town, the first car was nearly right behind the last.

The Daffodil as a Symbol

To Bernadette, the daffodil is a natural fit for Nantucket. Associated with spring, renewal, and resilience, the flower suits the island's character: hardy, unhurried, and built to last. It thrives in sandy soil, spreads naturally, and returns year after year without much tending, qualities that make it a fitting emblem for a community that has always found a way through the long winters. That association, color and optimism arriving after a long, quiet season, is part of why she thinks the festival matters so much to year-round islanders.

What Happens During Daffy Weekend

While the complete 2027 schedule has not yet been released, Daffy Weekend has a number of traditions that return year after year.

The antique car parade is the centerpiece. Traditionally, vintage vehicles decorated in daffodils line up on Main Street, loop through downtown and head out Milestone Road to Siasconset, where participants set up elaborate, often whimsically themed tailgate picnics. It is the image most associated with Daffy Weekend. The 2027 parade date, staging time and route will be confirmed when the Chamber publishes the full schedule. Those weighing a stay near the parade route can browse Siasconset neighborhood details for what village life looks like the rest of the year.

Alongside the parade, the Daffy Hat Pageant celebrates creative millinery in daffodil themes, the Children's Beach Bike Parade brings the youngest islanders into the festivities, and the NiSHA Daffy Dog Parade, held in partnership with Nantucket Safe Harbor for Animals, invites costumed pets to join in. Shops, galleries, and restaurants across Town join in with daffodil-inspired touches throughout the weekend. Families planning around the children's events can find more in the guide to Nantucket for kids.

The Nantucket Garden Club's Daffodil Show

The Nantucket Garden Club has announced its 51st Annual Daffodil Show for April 23 to 25, 2027. The show is judged by the American Daffodil Society, accepts entries from residents and visitors of all ages, and is free and open to the public. The Club has also said copies of its new book, Gardens of Nantucket, will be available at the show on April 24 and 25 at the Nantucket Inn; the show's full public hours for 2027 have not yet been published.

The Nantucket Garden Club: At the Heart of It All

TThe Nantucket Garden Club started it all with the first Daffodil Show in 1975, and it still runs the show today, while the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce organizes the wider festival around it. Founded in 1954 by 34 year-round and summer residents committed to gardening and to preserving Nantucket's natural beauty, the Club has grown into one of the island's most important community institutions, shaping not only the festival but the character of the island itself. From maintaining the historic Hadwen House Garden to sponsoring the annual Daffodil Show, decorating the iconic Main Street fountain, and funding scholarships for the next generation of environmental stewards, the Garden Club's contributions reach far beyond Daffy Weekend.

The daffodil planting project Jean MacAusland launched in 1978 was always a community act. It succeeded because of volunteers, schoolchildren, local organizations, and decades of collective commitment. Every spring, the yellow along the island's roadsides shows what Nantucket's community builds when it works together, and that is precisely the spirit the festival celebrates.

Why Daffy Weekend Matters Beyond the Blooms

Daffy Weekend is the unofficial start of Nantucket's season. For many seasonal residents, it is the first weekend they return; for the island, it is the moment the year begins. But for those who know Nantucket well, it also offers something more: a clear view of the community beneath the summer surface.

The festival was built by islanders for islanders, and it shows. The schoolchildren entering the flower show, the volunteers running the parade, the families who have tailgated in 'Sconset for generations: these are the people who live here year-round, and this is their celebration. For anyone considering Nantucket as more than a summer destination, a weekend like this one may be more persuasive than any listing. Spring is also when Nantucket's real estate market reawakens, and the festival marks the front edge of that season. For more on the island's year-round appeal, see living on Nantucket, and for those weighing the quieter seasons as an opportunity to buy, the guide to buying in the off-season is a useful companion.

Where to Stay for the Daffodil Festival

The festival draws visitors from across New England and beyond, and accommodation for Daffy Weekend can fill quickly, particularly once the detailed event schedule is announced. In-town inns, hotels, and bed and breakfasts are popular choices for their walkability to the events, while private vacation rentals offer the comfort of a home base for families or groups. Bernadette maintains a portfolio of exclusive vacation rentals across the island, from cozy in-town cottages to spacious retreats near the beaches, for those who prefer the space and character of a private home. Booking ahead is strongly advised.