CLEARWATER, Fla. — The nightly sunset festival on Clearwater Beach, enjoyed by locals and residents for nearly 30 years, is returning. Sunsets at Pier 60 will resume on Wednesday for the first time since Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Clearwater Beach reopened over the weekend, including the Pier 60 recreational park, public parking, playground, and concessions.
Pier 60 itself, as well as some attractions, remain closed because of damage sustained.
“The cabanas are out. The sun is shining. The green flags are flying for the lifeguard,” Lisa Chandler said.
Chandler, the Sunsets at Pier 60 Festival organizer, also owns Pier 60 concessions.
“City workers have been working round-the-clock, moving all that sand, cleaning the sand, redistributing the stand, putting back the infrastructure to get ready for our Thanksgiving and Christmas season,” she added.
Stephanie Holland owns a holistic healing center in Arkansas and has been in town for several conferences.
“Just taking some time in between to enjoy some time on the beach,” Holland said Monday morning.
When she arrived, the beach was still officially closed, and she has been watching the progress from her hotel balcony ever since.
“They’re amazing. They get up early and start working hard and they don’t finish until late at night,” Holland said. “It’s phenomenal here. The beach is so clean.”
Toryn Fulton and her mother had to drive up the coast before finally finding a beach open.
“It was definitely hard to find a beach, but we found one and the weather is definitely better than Pittsburgh.”
Fulton will attend the University of South Florida starting in Fall 2025 but was in town for a softball tournament.
Anthony White was setting up a chair and umbrella as his fiancé laid out on a towel. The couple is on vacation from Fredericksburg, Va.
“We love it down here. That’s why we come every year,” White said.
But the beach was also closed when they first arrived.
“I guess we really didn’t know the extent of the damage when we came.”
Back-to-back storm events brought record storm surge, rainfall and winds to the Tampa Bay region. The question some are asking now isn’t where people should rebuild, but where we should let nature regain control.
