Photo by Sharon Thorpe
The 36th Antique & Classic Boat Festival and Coastal Arts Fair is coming to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum on June 14-16, inviting guests to take a step back in time in celebration of the history and artistry of these venerable vessels.
Celebrating this year’s theme of “It’s All About Fishing,” owners of vintage sport and commercial fishing boats will be lined up on Father’s Day weekend to display their Boston Whaler, Chris-Craft, Rybovich, Hatteras, Lyman, and Egg Harbor beauties alongside CBMM’s floating fleet of traditional Chesapeake vessels.
Hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, the festival brings a sense of nostalgia to CBMM’s waterfront campus along the Miles River with one of the largest classic boat shows in the Mid-Atlantic regionand more fun for the whole family.
This edition runs from 10am-5pm on Friday and Saturday and 10am-3pm on Sunday. To buy tickets and get more information, visit cbmm.org/antiqueandclassic.
CBMM members save with reduced pricing for this festival and other annual events celebrating the best of the Bay throughout the year. Join today and become a part of the Chesapeake story at cbmm.org/memberships.
The three-day Antique & Classic Boat Festival celebrates the past, present, and future of antique and classic boating with examples spread across CBMM’s 18-acre campus and docks.
Boat enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy exploring more than 100 cruisers, runabouts and racers displayed on land and in the water and meeting their owners. Each year, the selection includes wood, fiberglass, and metal vessels in all phases of restoration representing the historic (up to 1918), antique (1919-1942), classic (1943-1975), late classic (1976-1997), and contemporary (any wooden boat built since 1997) classes.
The Antique & Classic Boat Festival is accompanied by a juried Coastal Arts Fair showcasing vendors whose wares celebrate boating and life on and around the water.
Guided by the local chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society’s mission of generating enthusiasm for sustaining, maintaining, and preserving these timeless vessels, the festival will feature a lineup of 11 seminars in the Van Lennep Auditorium on Friday and Saturday highlighting experts, historians, and authors. This includes a presentation from CBMM’s Chief Historian Pete Lesher titled “Chasing Crabs & Rockfish, Tonging Oysters–The Chesapeake Motor Deadrise from 1900 to 2000” on Friday at 3pm.
The festival will also feature a Field of Dreams for those looking to buy, free boat rides, a nautical flea market, and children’s activities.
Two-day admission to the Antique & Classic Boat Festival is $22 for adults, $19 for seniors (65+) and college students with ID, $18 for retired military with ID, $10 for active military with ID and CBMM members, $9 for children 6–17, and free for children 5 and younger.
In addition to advanced sales online for Friday/Saturday and Saturday/Sunday, tickets will be available at CBMM throughout the festival. No single-day tickets will be sold to this rain-or-shine event.
Additional free event parking for Saturday’s festivities will be available at St. Michaels Middle/High School, with a complimentary shuttle service to and from CBMM.
For safety reasons, non-service dogs need to be kept home during CBMM festivals, including the Antique & Classic Boat Festival and Coastal Arts Fair. Carry-on alcohol from dock or land is prohibited.
