Swan Boats won’t return to Public Garden until 2021, owners say

BOSTON — Yet another staple of Boston in the summertime will not be happening in 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. This time, it’s the Swan Boats that will stay away from the Public Garden until 2021, according to a notice on the organization’s website.

The Swan Boats, which float around the city’s Public Garden across from the Boston Common, were supposed to have their opening day on April 18. However, they’ve remained closed throughout the spring and summer due to COVID-19 concerns.

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Those concerns and the tight-spaced nature of the Swan Boats have led to a decision by the Paget family to wait until 2021 for the boats to return. The Paget family were the original owners of the Swan Boats and continue to run the organization today.

“Our business is a small and intimate environment that brings people together in a memorable way. As a result, we face some unique challenges in our operation that make it difficult to assure the level of safety we are committed to providing,” the owners wrote on their website. “The decision is one we believe is necessary and will mark a first in our 145 years of operation.”

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The Swan Boats first began in Boston in the 1870s.

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