Invasion of the Pines

The Invasion of the Pines is a Fourth of July boatload of drag queens sailing from Cherry Grove to the Fire Island Pines harbor. It began as a protest. In 1976 the Blue Whale restaurant in the Pines refused to serve Cherry Grove resident Teri Warren because she was in drag. Grove friends, led by newly crowned Homecoming Queen Thom Hansen, known as Panzi, dressed up and took the water taxi over, and Panzi "blessed" the harbor. Accounts differ on whether that first trip was on July 4 or a week after the refusal. Either way, the Grove has done it every year since. The 50th was in 2025.

The queens gather in the Grove, board a chartered ferry and ride about fifteen minutes east. The boat usually docks in the Pines around 2:30 to 3pm, by the Pavilion and the Blue Whale, and the harbor is packed with people watching. It's free to watch. On the day, the Pines and the Grove both throw parties that run late.

The 2026 Invasion, the 51st, was set for July 4. Fire Island has no cars, so you reach it by ferry from Sayville, and summer-weekend rooms sell out months ahead. The event always falls on the Fourth, but organizers hadn't posted 2027 details when we checked.