Provincetown is back in business, as patios along Commercial Street bustle with brunch-goers and tourists stream into town for the start of the summer’s flagship festival.
The scene on Saturday was a welcome change after the city restored its sewer system and lifted an emergency order that had forced the closure of most restaurants and all public restrooms since Thursday.
The crisis was resolved just in time for the start of Carnival Week, the festival that draws as many as 150,000 visitors to the tiny town at the tip of Cape Cod.
Town Manager Alex Morse released the news on Facebook just after 6 a.m. Saturday, writing that “the entirety of the downtown vacuum sewer system has been returned to stable operation and handled the gradual increase in flows overnight from residential properties.”
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“At this time, ALL users can begin to gradually return to normal water use: the sewer emergency order is lifted!” Morse wrote.
As of Saturday morning, all the restaurants and cafes in the affected area had reopened and resumed service. Among the tourists in town, some were snacking on fresh fried dough, while others were indulging in boozy brunches with drag queens.
“There’s definitely been an energy shift,” said Ben deRuyter, the owner of Aqua Bar. “We’re extremely excited to be reopening here on a Saturday at the beginning of Carnival Week. There’s a lot of joy in town this morning.”
Carnival Week — an annual event, this year themed “Monsters, Myths & Legends” — includes 17 events, such as a 5K, a cruise, pool parties, and a parade, which is occurring on Thursday in a return after being halted the past two years.
“We expect thousands of revelers in the street, music blaring, disco balls twirling, and rainbow flags aplenty, to reinforce why everyone comes to visit Provincetown,” said Stephan Hengst, the executive director of the Provincetown Business Guild, which runs Carnival.
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Hengst said he was “very appreciative” that the sewer system had failed the week before Carnival rather than midway through the enormous event.
The issues started after Tuesday thunderstorms caused the station that runs the sewer system downtown to experience electrical issues. The rain then slowed the repairs required to restore the system, forcing the city to declare an emergency early Thursday.
Residents were told to reduce water usage, from dishwashing to showering, and to “only flush when absolutely necessary.” All restaurants were forced to shutter on Thursday and Friday, and businesses were only permitted to sell food that was prepackaged.
DeRuyter said the crisis was difficult for businesses like Aqua Bar, which had to close completely.
“To be forced to close for two days during our busiest month of the year is definitely a challenge,” he said. “All of us in business in town — particularly in the food and beverage industries — were worried that this could potentially go on for longer than the estimate that was provided by the town.”
Though “it’d be naive of any of us to assume that this can’t reoccur,” deRuyter said he “has faith” in officials to “make sure that’s not the case.”
In the wake of the issues, the city will have somebody stationed at the central vacuum sewer system in the downtown and have extra employees and engineers from AECOM on site “to detect any irregularities,” Morse said in an interview.
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“We are confident, but we also just need to make sure that we have support if we see anything that is out of the ordinary,” he said. “As of now, we expect things to go well. The system’s back up and running.”
Morse said the breakdown was the third time the town’s sewer system has failed in the past few decades. In May, the Select Board authorized a $75 million plan to expand and modernize its infrastructure for wastewater.
“We need to fully build out the sewer in the town and it’s going to take a lot of resources over the next decade to do that,” he said.
For now, though, the town is focused its festivities and celebrating Carnival.
“We all feel back to normal and we’re excited to welcome people back for what’s expected to be a beautiful week,” said Hengst.
On Facebook, Morse thanked residents and businesses for “patience over the last 48 hours” and celebrated the commencement of Carnival Week.
“Cheers to safe, sanitary and stable wastewater disposal in Provincetown, and bring on the Monsters, Myths & Legends,” he said.
Camille Caldera was a Globe intern in 2022.Follow her on Twitter @camille_caldera.