Page 36 - Reside Magazine Premier Central Florida

T he Cape Cod peninsula of
Massachusetts juts out into the
Atlantic Ocean like a long,
curved f inger beckoning
visitors to its idyllic seaside
villages. Situated at the very
tip is what is often called the “last stop on
the continent”: Provincetown. This small coastal
resort, affectionately known by locals as
“P-Town,” has a year-round population of just
3,664. In summer, this explodes to more than
60,000, with visitors traveling from all over the
country—and the world.
It’s hard to imagine 60,000 people flooding
this diminutive place, which is just three miles
long and three or four blocks wide, albeit with
21 miles of coastal shoreline. Yet Provincetown’s
tourism economy exceeds $350 million
yearly—visitors spent over $110 million on food
and drink in 2023 alone, thanks in no small part
Provincetown was founded in 1727 but first settled by Native Americans “
to its enduring reputation as a refuge and safe
haven for the LGBTQ+ community.
Carnival, the town’s week-long Pride celebration in August, attracts
90,000 visitors. There’s also Family Week, Trans Week, and Frolic Weekend
(for men of color), while 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Women’s Week.
Once predominantly a summer destination, the season now extends to
December, with some shops, galleries, and restaurants opting to remain open THE ROLL CALL OF
through the holidays. CREATIVES WHO

from the Wampanoag and Nauset tribes. In 1620 the Mayflower, the English
ship that brought Pilgrims to the New World, landed on these shores (not HAVE LIVED HERE
Plymouth as many are taught). They stayed for more than two months before IS IMPRESSIVE
sailing west, but their presence is commemorated by the 252ft Pilgrim
Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) followed in 1914, with ”
Monument, completed in 1910 and visible for miles around. The 1860s brought
the Portuguese to P-Town—most were sailors working on whaling vessels—
and to this day it boasts a large Portuguese community, as well as an annual
Portuguese Festival and Blessing of the Fleet.
Provincetown also hosts one of the oldest arts colonies in the US, thanks
to the Cape Cod School of Art, which was established in 1899 and still offers
a range of painting courses, as well as open and drop-in sessions. The

the aim to build a “permanent collection of works by artists of outer Cape Cod,

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