20th Annual Day at the Docks returns September 13-14

September 11, 2024 | Island Features | By: Joy Crist

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2024, the annual Day at the Docks Festival will be held on Friday and Saturday, September 13-14.

Day at the Docks 2022. photo by Don Bowers.

Initially launched as a one-day event in 2004, Day at the Docks (DATD) was created as a community-wide effort to recover after 2003’s Hurricane Isabel, which cut a new inlet south of the village, effectively separating Hatteras from the rest of the world for weeks.

Aimed at reviving the “Spirit of Hatteras,” the event’s roots have always been anchored to the local commercial and charter fishing industries, and DATD continues to be a celebration of the strength of community, heritage, and the living traditions of island watermen.

DATD maintains its focus on life on the water, but now the event lasts for two days, and is an attraction in its own right. These days, many visitors make the trek to Hatteras village during September to coincide their vacation with the annual DATD celebration, and new activities and/or vendors are continually added year after year.

The schedule for DATD’s main events includes the following:

SEPTEMBER 13

Hurricane Awareness Town Hall – 3:00 p.m., Community Building
Seafood Under the Stars – 6:30 p.m., Hatteras Civic Center

The Blessing of the Fleet will still be held during 2021’s event. Photo from Day at the Docks.

SEPTEMBER 14

Fishy 5k and Dock Dash – 8:00 a.m., Hatteras Methodist Church
Competitions, activities, and vendors – 10:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m., Hatteras Village Waterfront
Music and Entertainment 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Main Stage
Chowder Cook-off – 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m
Youth Fishing Tourney – 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., Hatteras Harbor Marina. Sign up by 1:00 at Jeffrey’s Seafood
Seafood Throwdown – 2:30 p.m., Main Stage
Awards Ceremony – 3:45 p.m., Main Stage
Boat Parade & Blessing of the Fleet – 6:00 p.m., Hatteras Village Harbor

The competing chefs in the annual Seafood Throwdown were also recently announced, and this year’s event, which takes place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, is a head-to-head competition between Chef Tyler Naughton of Toucana Grill in Hatteras Village and Chef Brandyn Powers of The Froggy Dog in Avon.

One of the most popular annual DATD events, the Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation’s (HICF) Chowder Cook-off, is returning once again for 2024. During this highly competitive contest, where bragging rights last all year long, various island restaurants will gather and fight for the title of the 2024 HICF Best Chowder. The tasting fee is $10, and tasters will serve as the all-important judges, sampling the entries and voting for their favorites. Best of all, proceeds from every tasting ticket will go to benefit the HICF.

Details about additional annual activities and vendors will trickle in as Day at the Docks approaches, but in the meantime, locals and visitors alike should save the date for September 13-14 to discover, (or re-discover), everything that this Hatteras Village celebration has to offer.

For more information, visit http://hatterasonmymind.com/HVCA/DayAtTheDocks/ or follow Day at the Dock’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hatterasdayatthedocks/.