ANOTHER ROUND OF SUMMER PARTIES & EVENTS!!! Once again Memorial Day weekend kicked off with amazing season openers openers! This year even more charity events marked the holiday interspersed with top shelf private soirees. On the historical front Sag Harbor is celebrating its 300th anniversary this year and there will be a swell of revelry over the summer to honor this commemorative moment. This year was no exception to the usual celebrity mix with locals and Jason Binn hosted his Hampton Magazine party with the lovely Christy Brinkley who just seems to get prettier every year! WOW is all anyone could say!! Then HYT ME hosted a holiday bash at a Deerfield manse where the renown event promoter, Mark Baker, held court with live entertainment. We found Fergie from Black Eyed Peas holding court at the other new hot spot, Whitehouse over on the canal being gifted by the mucho talented jewelry designer, Marie-Lise La Chapelle.

The Garden Club of East Hampton held a preview cocktail party featuring its spectacular annual plant show at Mulford Farm. Bridgehampton Tennis & Surf Club was packed with party goers who attended a benefit to help out Miracle House - some had also been to the David Arbus exhibition, Drawn to East Hampton, featuring his exquisite paintings & drawings of historical architectural gems on Main Street. In a westerly direction on Main Street, Spring into Summer - An American Celebration - was spread out across the Great Lawn in Westhampton Beach. On Memorial Day Monday the real commemoration was the East Hampton parade which began by Guild Hall and winded its way through the village as it has for years past.

June though is really the summer opener because many of our seasonal residents haven't really moved out to their country retreats in earnest until then. It picked up momentum with the Decorators, Designers, Dealers 15th annual cocktail party for the Fresh Air Home with their fashionably high end furniture sale and impeccable wine auction all to benefit the camp for physically challenged kids. At another beautiful private home, The Perrys hosted the 20th Annual Planned Parenthood Benefit with an auction of 1960s inspired fashion, furniture & art. After that it was off to the Whitehouse where Flava Flav was spinning the music scene.

June debuted with a classic car show - a very elegant one - and entrants for the 50 mile drive raised money for Habitat for Humanity. The Hamptons Councours D'Elegance Auction brought in bidders from everywhere and was presented by the Kensington Motor Group. Mercedes Ruehl helped out ARF in the Sculpture Garden & Studio of Dorothy Frankel by celebrating 10 years of "Operation Cat" and Martha Stewart joined in helping ARF by opening her garden for the tour along with Grey Gardens and four other magnificent masterpieces. In Southampton on Jobs Lane, Anne Madonia Antiques also hosted a garden party to promote Cecily Pennoyer's beautiful planters & pots.

On the topic of g r e e n...Group for the South Fork has changed their name to Group for the East End and held a marvelous gala chaired by Nicole Miller & Kim Taipale, Anne Hearst McInerney and Jay McInerney...under a tent at the Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. Ideal Bytes and many other environmentally friendly companies were on hand to raise awareness along with some famous faces like Fisher Stevens. Later in the evening, dare we say "evening" - it was more like the midnight hour - we joined the Hamptons Magazine crew over at one of this season's newest & hottest nightclubs, Dune...for a party honoring magazine cover Kevin Connolly of HBO's hit Entourage.

We also captured more celeb video of Alexandra Reeve and her half-brother Will during the 3rd Annual Summer Solstice Celebration at B. Smith's sensational restaurant on the wharf in Sag Harbor to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. This was a most extravagant cocktail affair with THE most sumptuous hors d.oeuvres and other delectable appetizers that seemingly never ran out. The Lone Sharks played as the Reeves' children graciously answered everyone's requests for a moment of conversation.

The Retreat snagged Lorraine Bracco to help their cause and celebrate 20 years of saving victims of domestic abuse & family violence. The Retreat Gala held a silent auction of 20 hand-painted ceramic plates, a gift auction of luxury and one-of-a-kind items and a live auction of up to a dozen original works of art by well-known and up-and-coming artists including Ross Bleckner, Priscilla Bowden, Michael Combs, Roberto Dutesco, April Gornik, Arnold Hoffmann, Janet Jennings, Scott Kelley, Anne Raymond, and Denise Regan, Esteban Vicente. Next door at Madame Tongs, Hamptons Magazine was celebrating Kelsey Grammar and his lovely wife, Camille, who graced their cover that week...sumptuous hors d'oeuvres & Beefeater gin martinis flowed and a good time was had by all. The very same evening over in Sagaponack at the Luna Farm the 8th Annual Love Heals event was in full swing to benefit Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education. It was probably the most enormous tent of the evening with a HUGE bar to match and it seemed that everyone arrived with a full appetite...the tremendous buffet line said it all!!

John Drew Theater in East Hampton had their season opener the following weekend with John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey at the Maidstone Tennis Club beginning with a cocktail reception courtside and a lavish dinner afterwards. The Nature Conservancy's Annual Gala was a smashing success this season and was held on the splendid grounds of a private estate where no expense was spared for all the eco-friendly guests. We managed to stop by God's Love We Deliver for cocktail hour by the water at a very lovely home but had to head for Southampton to the next festivity...benefitting the Fresh Air Home on Meadow Lane - another annual event not to be missed. Vava water - you know - the designer water charged with electro magnetic frequencies targeting specific responses - led the way to the 20th Annual American Picnic where we observed many enjoying the fabulous bbq under Grucci's Indepedence Day Spectacular of fireworks galore (we like to jump the gun here in the Hamptons ; ) We snapped a lot of video to give you a taste of all that merriment. Over in Quogue the Potts family hosted the East End Hospice Summer Gala at their Sandacres estate. Starr Boggs catered while guests enjoyed casino gaming, live entertainment & top notch auctions.

July 4th fell right smack in the middle of the week so it seemed like bookend party weekends that never ended. Westhampton Performing Arts Theater held its 2nd Annual Long Island Comedy Festival with 90 minute 'live' stand-up comedy show features up and coming comics from Long Island, NYC and beyond. P Diddy sounded off at Whitehouse with a live performance at 2 in the morning and heated things up with thrilled fans who'd been waiting hours for him to show up. On the weekend following Ross Bleckner hosted a benefit for AIDS under a tent at his legendary house which belonged to Truman Capote.

Next it was on to the Have a Heart Gala honoring the well known Dr. Wayne Isom and benefiting the American Heart Association. This was their 11th Annual Heart of the Hamptons Gala and the focus this year was on children's health. The gala helps to raise funds for this extremely important cause bringing together New York City & Hamptons corporate, medical and community leaders. Luxury items were being auctioned off and luxury seemed to run the gamut of the entire soiree. Just down the road in Bridgehampton was the Choral Society Concert at Channing Daughters amidst some unusual but stunning wooden oversized sculptures - a personal favorite is the pencil. In between we even attended a wonderful outdoorsy family friendly bbq at Diamond Ranch to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation - it was no small wonder that it was kid friendly as it is a disease that affects a great many children so to see healthy little ones running a mock in the grass was indeed a delightful site.

This weekend might just count as a long weekend because it began on Thursday evening with a preview cocktail party for the 16th Hamptons' Summer Antiques & Garden Show & Sale at the Bridgehampton Community House. It was a benefit for East End Hospice - one of several this summer - and the show continued throughout the weekend. In the same mode, this season's HC&G Idea House opened its doors with an Opening Gala to benefit Guild Hall. It showcases 20 designers at the former Warner LeRoy estate with the very latest in interior design concepts. Hamptons Cottages & Gardens always does a superb show and this year it's another sensational showhouse. Next it was onwards to the enchanting Channing Daughters' Winery for the 8th Annual CMEE Under the Stars Benefit for the Children's Museum of the East End. Donny Deutsch of CNBC hosted under a glorious tent designed to dazzle and they again led the way with beautiful table design. After all the wonderful items had been auctioned and as the dinner hour concluded, the live music kept most everyone on the dance floor till the wee hours. Over in East Hampton the historic Mulford Farm was as busy as usual hosting a cocktail party to kick off the annual Antiques Show.

Now that was all FRIDAY night...on Saturday evening there were several more mega events proving once again that the season always has a special emphasis on charities in between all those privately held parties behind the privet!! How does one get to all of these or even choose between them?!! There was a Hamptons Tea Dance to benefit Empire State Pride at Diamond Ranch on Mecox with a family friendly atmosphere of afternoon dancing and even a sandbox for the kiddies. Later in the evening, it was off to one of the absolute favorites of the season - The Annual Midsummer Gala at the Parrish Art Museum - every year it just gets better & better and it is one of THE most elegant parties. This year's co-chairs were Debby Bancroft, Katharina Otto-Bernstein & Beth Rudin DeWoody who all did a fabulous job matching previous seasons for style & party design. Everyone paid homage to Trudy Kramer who gave of herself with boundless energy & enthusiasm for so many years and is retiring from her steadfast position as director.

The evening continued with more parties and more charitable events spanning from Westhampton Beach on the Great Lawn where there was the Reach for the Stars Gala benefitting Family Counseling Services to Ross School in East Hampton where the highly anticipated SOCIAL presented its first in a series of five LUXURY concerts earmarked for the next four consecutive Saturdays all at Ross. This one was Prince and all the stars were out in force for the first Hampton SOCIAL at Ross - we snapped shots of the red carpet where we discovered who likes SOCIAL's concept of luxury - Lizzie Grubman and her crew were orchestrating the event for Bulldog Entertainment and did a splendid job of getting everyone through the line with ease & elegance. We noticed a parade of famous faces including Jon Bon Jovi, JZ, Russell Simmons, David Lauren & Lauren Bush, Hannah, Christy and a string of other gorgeous glamour girls strutting the runway into the private concert. We will bring you more on this series - Billy Joel, James Taylor, DAVE MATTHEWS & Tom Petty are all comin' to town!!! You can see who my favorite is ; ) ross ROCKS!! No wonder the kids love it so much there...hmmm - why didn't they have all this when I went to school? aah, we had Central Park. Tickets are still available for the rest of the shows so go to discoversocial.com before they run out!!

House & Garden opened their doors to the gorgeous new showhouse on Ocean Road in Bridgehampton while a house & garden tour was taking place at the Westhampton Performing Arts Theater co-chaired by Mary Jane Poole & Patty Allen. House & Garden had a designer showhouse cocktail benefit to show off the latest concepts of high-end interior design which we dropped by for and met with one talented designer in particular, Rick Livingston, who had done the dining room. We offer you a vignette of our house tour and hope it'll encourage you to go to see it as well! We're so lucky to have so many wonderful designers at our fingertips out here in the Hamptons. Opening Day of Bridgehampton Polo at JetOne Field in Bridgehampton was a splendid event with celebrity host, Debra Messing, adorned with all her stunning gold jewelry making her glitter in the afternoon sunshine.

Next it was off to Chefs & Champagne over at Wolffer Vineyard where just about every great restaurant within a hundred mile radius spread out delectable gourmet treats. Mouth watering appetzers and tantalizing desserts were generously served up along with the very best Wolffer wines...Charles Heidieck was the featured champagne. The James Beard Foundation presents Chefs and Champagne as an annual summer tasting party pulling in all the top chefs so if you have a strong culinary sense this is a very pleasant affair indeed!!

Bay Street Theatre held their Summer Gala Benefit over on Butter Lane with a huge tent sporting an oriental theme for the evening. We all love their productions and it keeps us going all winter as well as summer and it appears by the large crowd that many share that feeling!! The guest auctioneer was Richard Kind and they had everything from Apple to Julie Andrews narrative features on the table and we managed to capture quite a bit of it on film. The Bay Street Theatre consistently attracts top shelf actors & actresses who share their time with our local community talent which results in one great performance after another. Over on Cobb Road in Water Mill, there was a special benefit for the Wildlife Rescue Foundation located in Hampton Bays. They are the ones who RESCUE wild animals & birds when you don't know what to do with them - they'll actually come to your house if necessary. They g o the extra mile to save all sizes & species.

We attended a small soiree where Veuve Cliquot presented well known artist, Daniel Bottero. It helped to raise funds for the South Fork Breast Coalition. Melissa Olcott was instrumental in getting a nice group of old Southampton for Bottero's summer debut. Veuve Cliquot was everywhere you looked and they never stopped filling your glass so needless to say we enjoyed a very lighthearted evening! Bottero will be having a solo exhibition of paintings from his recent series The Love of the Poet also to benefit the South Fork Breast Health Coalition over at the Gallery Sag Harbor next weekend. The Hampton Designer Showhouse had their benefit but we also went back to capture a glimpse of the actual showhouse to give you a preview. House & Garden magazine was the sponsor again this year and it was a great success as always...both the designer showhouse and the HC & G Idea House are absolute favorites and we have overheard a lot of people griping that people even go to Open Houses just to check out the decorating & design...forget about buying the house!! Honestly, we're not pointing fingers ; )

Another BUSY weekend...by everyone's count with whom we spoke to it would appear that the last weekend of July is a BIGGIE!! There was a lot of venting about having to sacrifice one party for another. We did try to cover as many as possible on the large scale event scene starting with Super Saturday which is a favorite designer flea market held every year to benefit The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. It was held at Nova's Ark Project in Water Mill with hosts Donna Karan, Charla Lawhon and In Style w/ special guest Kelly Ripa who was caught browsing and graciously signing autographs in between. She has been a devout supporter for a long time and I think we can all agree that this is certainly a worthwhile ticket to spring for since it does all go to research. Btw, Nova's Ark is a very interesting project of its own merit and a place to put on your list for go-see's. Next it was on to the 2nd week of Bridgehampton Polo at JetOne Field where Norah Lawlor was holding court at the VIP entrance to another fast game of horsemanship and a who's who reverie inside the tent. This week it was Brook Shields, herself a Hamptonite, who played celebrity host to countless fans of both the game and the celebs!! Her grandfather, Frank Shields, was a famous tennis player in Southampton and (around the world) who everyone adored and was quite the entertainer.

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds were a smash hit at the 2nd Hamptons SOCIAL which Bulldog Entertainment presented at the Ross School in East Hampton...too bad the locals couldn't go...I mean the ones who aren't billionaires and who work and live here...what a novel idea? hmmm. Anyhow there was one sizeable group of lucky ticket holders and the stars were out in force...Billy Joel showed up at this one and he's actually playing next. As for the concept of luxury marketing to the Hamptons crowd, the intimate proximity to the musicians is no doubt special and the environmental design is a fresh take on high tech style for party design instead of the same vanilla tent. It is pretty cool to have these stratospheric artists right in our hometown - now we just have to work on BULLDOG to do a second tier of luxury marketing for the real world : ) I say leave the already privilidged kids at home next time around and use that 3k apiece for many more children in Darfur to eat...and let some worthy unnotables IN for such mega performancesplease!! To be fair a portion of it did go to the local Ross school kids.

Over yonder across the fields in Water Mill, the Water Mill Center held its 14th annual summer benefit. The evening's motto "voom zoo" paid homage to Robert Wilson's recent series of video portraits of animals...the dress code was "wild chic" so let your imagination take over and you might guess what the guests wore for high fashion chic in the jungle. Eccentric performances and art installations were inside & out...every time you ventured another direction, a new surprise was in store. The auction was hosted by star auctioneer Simon de Pury, included art works by Marina Abramovic, Cecily Brown, Jenny Holzer, Alex Katz, Martin Eder and Sol Lewitt. Honorary chairmen included Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Annie Leibovitz, David Lynch and Viktor & Rolf. Everything though seemed to be further east...Montauk was having its annual Harbor Lights Festival at the Montauk Yacht Club to benefit the Montauk Playhouse Community Center and Russell Simmons was putting on Art for Life again at his home in East Hampton - it benefits the Rush Philanthropic Foundation to support the creative expression of kids in NYC. It was a bit of a stretch but we managed to get into the CDHC FAIRY TALES & DREAMS just under the wire - it was their 11th Annual CDCH Summer Benefit tagged as "An Enchanted Celebration" to benefit the needs of special children. Set within an enchanted forest, the benefit featured a magical story hour with Emma Walton & Friends, cocktails, silent auction, dinner by Fresh Flavors and dancing to the music of Total Soul. It was a family friendly affair blending two generations for one delightful evening under the stars.

One annual event every summer is the Southampton Hospital Party which raises funds for emergency care that benefits every one of us. "On the Town" was the theme and the great white tent sprawled across a field off Wickapogue was jam packed with people who live here, seasonal types and hopsital staffers alike who all know a terrific party year after year. This summer's event was chaired by Sandra McConnell & Melanie Wambold who did a fabulous job with design across the board for this affair which brought in over a thousand people!! Earlier in the day at the Diamond Ranch in Bridgehampton was the 18th Annual Hamptons Family Day Wild West Carnival to benefit Albert Einstein Medical - it was a perfect sunny day and there were a slew of families out with their kiddies enjoying an old fashioned American fair. It had everything and I mean EVERYTHING a kid could want!! The third Hamptons SOCIAL was held in East Hampton and East Hamptonite Bill Joel performed - although he is not a rare sight in this neck of the woods, it is a very special occasion to have him peform right here in our town. We have sworn not to show photos or video of these awesome musicians so we are honoring that but we can give you more then a glimpse of the Red Carpet and all the super stars behind these legends!! Just to name a few ; )...Christy Brinkley arrived with Alexa Joel and gave thehamptons.com a nice big hello as did Kelly Ripa with husband Mark Consuelos and...Steve Guttenburg!! More famous people lining up the entrance way were Howard Stern & Beth Ostrovsky, Tommy & Thalia Motttola, Alec Baldwin, Lorne Michaels and Soprano star Edie Falco while Renee Zellweger and John Bon Jovi & wife snuck past everyone and scooted right in! B.B. King was anticipated to be there but we didn't happen to see him. The cuisine was created by Katie Lee Joel and prepared by Robbins Wolfe, our renown "eventeur". Lizzie Grubman along with Kyle seem to be doing a remarkable job and keeping things nice & relaxed even in the midst of such a whirlwind of starpower.

We have more from Bulldog Entertainment with coverage of James Taylor and Tom Petty videos still coming up. We were lucky to have been invited to Guild Hall's Summer Gala which began with an exhibit of Billy Sullivan and cocktails followed by an extravagant dinner and live auction at Mulford Farm. A lot happened in between then and now so we've got loads of footage from James Taylor, the Artists & Writers Softball Game, ARF's Casablanca, Ellen's Run, the first Hamptons Horse Rescue party...we will keep you going all winter!!! So light the fire...open your laptops...and look back on all the summer's hottest parties in the Hamptons : )

We have SO MUCH MORE coming!!! So stayed tuned, bookmark this page for easy access and preview some of the upcoming annual events on our last party page. You'll find all the great parties from last season and get an idea of what to look forward to for this year's events PLUS you just might see yourself in one of them. If you would like a copy of any photo or video from any of these events, please get in touch with thehamptons.com by emailing us at staff@thehamptons.com and THANK YOU for visiting : ) We will be adding to this as we capture more great footage here & there!!!