The Riverfest

Kick off summer early at Riverfest! Tour visiting fishing vessels docked at the Museum for the weekend, and immerse yourself in special historical demonstrations like sail handling aboard historic vessels, cod fishing, and open hearth cooking. Enjoy local seafood and beverages while listening to live music by the Mystic River, or shop at a variety of artisan vendor booths. And you won’t want to miss our newest formal exhibitions: Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea and Spineless: A Glass Menagerie of Blaschka Marine Invertebrates. Want to spend time out on the water to find your sea story? Enjoy a captained boat ride, or take out a sailboat, rowboat, or pedal boat! “Seas the day” at Riverfest! This event is free for Members and included in admission for non-members. Become a Member today to enter Riverfest—and every daytime event in the year to come—for FREE.

Schedule of Events

Live Music

11:00 a.m. My Druthers
12:30 p.m. Sharks Come Cruisin’
2:00 p.m. Silver Fox String Band
3:30 p.m. KabuJazz Ensemble featuring Candida Rose

Happening Throughout Each Day

Tour Visiting Vessels Dockside
Take Out a Rowboat, Sailboat, or Pedal Boat
Enjoy a River Cruise aboard Sabino!
View the Restoration of Fishing Schooner L. A. Dunton
Additional activities include lawn games, build your own toy boat, craft vendor booths

Activities and Demonstrations

10:15 a.m. | Setting Sails on Charles W. Morgan
11:00 a.m. | From Casks to Containers: Cargo Handling Demonstration
11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. | Cooking Demonstration
11:40 a.m. | Help Make a Rope
12:45 p.m. | Chantey Show
12:45 p.m. | Lobstering on Long Island Sound
1:30 p.m. | Life on the Line: Doryfishing on the Grand Banks
1:30–3:30 p.m. | Newfoundland Dogs: Water Rescue Training
2:00 p.m. | Help Raise a Cask
2:15 p.m. | Codfish Split
3:30 p.m. | Working Aloft on a Square Rigger
4:15 p.m. | Dogwatch: Sailors: Arts and Crafts
4:45 p.m. | Hercules Engine Demonstration

Talks and Tours

10:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 3:50 p.m. | Shipyard Tour
11:00 a.m. | Gerda III and the Rescue of the Danish Jews
11:30 a.m. | From Whale Ho! To Fin Out, Whaleboat Talk
2:00 p.m. | Screening of “Windshipped” and Director Q&A
2:40 p.m. | Indigenous Whalers
2:45 p.m. | The Oyster King of New York
4:25 p.m. | From Whale Ho! To Fin Out, Whaleboat Talk

Planetarium Shows

12:00 p.m. | Spring Stars and the Mariner
1:00 p.m. | Spring Stars and the Mariner
3:00 p.m. | The Morgan’s Guiding Stars

Exhibits

Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea | Stillman Building
Spineless: A Glass Menagerie of Blaschka Marine Invertebrates | C. D. Mallory Building

Purchase Tickets