‘A beautiful turnout’ caps season for Alive on 25

The second and final installment of Riverhead’s Alive on 25 this season drew a big crowd downtown Friday evening.

Rainy weather threatened a postponement of the event but the skies cleared and things dried out by Friday afternoon, allowing it to go forward as planned.

“We had a beautiful turnout,” Diane Tucci, owner of the Main Street Agency, which was contracted by the town to produce this year’s events.

“Main Street, the town square and the park were packed with people,” Tucci said in a phone interview Monday. “It was a clean, safe and vibrant environment. Everyone was just happy,” she said.  “Lots of people were asking about another event this year. People actually want it back and want more.”

Tucci said she hopes the town will continue to produce the event next summer, but, she acknowledged, “that’s not in my control.” Tucci works for the town as the Town Board coordinator; the board hired her company to produce Alive on 25 and the Halloween Festival in 2025 after the Riverhead Business Management Association announced it would not hold the two popular downtown events this year.

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“We worked so hard to make sure it was more about Riverhead people — the community, the music groups, the kids performing,” Tucci said. “Having locals involved brings more of the community out.”

The events had “way more live music” this year, she said. A change from past  years was that the bands were booked and curated by the event producer. “It made a big difference,” she said. Previously the bands were booked and paid for by local restaurants, Tucci said. 

“The first thing I wanted to do was hire the bands myself,” she said. “I raised the money through sponsorships to pay for the music. I made sure I had a wide variety of music.”

There were eight bands on Main Street for each of the events, plus bands performing in the town square, and “Reflextions” in Grangabel Park. “The breweries had live music too,” Tucci said. “It was the most live music ever.”

There were other crowd-pleasing attractions as well: wrestling performances, artisan vendors and a car show among them.

“Riverhead Raceway came in with a really phenomenal display of cars,” Tucci said.

“I am so proud of how Diane took the reins of Alive on 25,” Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard said Monday evening. “I have received so many compliments about how different and great it was. Mother Nature helped out also,” he said. “The sponsorship was phenomenal. So glad we went with Main Street Agency after the BID pulled out,” Hubbard said.

“I would love to see more types of events like this downtown,” Tucci said. “Maybe some scaled-back ones, and some bigger ones, too,” she said. “It’s all part of a more consistent activation of our downtown, and that’s what it’s all about. That’s why Alive on 25 was first started and that was my goal,” she said.

“I’m a Riverheader, and I think it makes a big difference,” Tucci said.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.

Editor’s note: This article was amended after its initial publication to add the comments of Supervisor Tim Hubbard, which were provided after publication.