The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum will welcome the 38th Antique & Classic Boat Festival and Coastal Arts Fair to its waterfront campus June 19-21 for a celebration of the craftsmanship, history, and enduring appeal of timeless vessels and the people dedicated to preserving them.
Organized by the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, this Father’s Day weekend tradition offers one of the largest classic boat shows in the Mid-Atlantic region and more fun for the whole family. This year’s theme is “Boats Built in Michigan & the Midwest.”
This edition of the Antique & Classic Boat Festival and Coastal Arts Fair runs from 10am-5pm on Friday and Saturday and 10am-3pm on Sunday. Tickets are on sale now at cbmm.org/ACBF, with discounted pricing for CBMM members. All guests save $2 per ticket by purchasing in advance online.
The three-day festival celebrates antique and classic boating with more than 100 cruisers, runabouts and racers representing a wide range of makers and eras spread across CBMM’s 18-acre campus and docks. Boat enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy exploring the unique collection of visiting vessels and meeting their owners.
Celebrating this year’s theme, guests will enjoy the rare opportunity to see iconic Midwest runabouts and cruisers such as Chris-Craft, Lyman, Century, Larson, Gar Wood, Matthews, among many others.
Each year, the festival showcases wood, fiberglass, and metal vessels in all phases of restoration spanning the historic (up to 1918), antique (1919-1942), classic (1943-1975), late classic (1976-1997), and contemporary (any wooden boat built since 1997) classes.
Alongside the boat show, a juried Coastal Arts Fair will feature vendors exhibiting and selling artwork, jewelry, home décor, and other merchandise inspired by boating and life on the water. The festivities also include a Field of Dreams with vessels for sale, a nautical flea market, and children’s activities.
Guests have a variety of ways to get out on the water during the festival. The Antique & Classic Boat Society will offer free boat rides aboard featured vessels on Saturday and Sunday from 1-3pm.
CBMM is also offering ticketed sails aboard 1955 skipjack Rosie Parks on Friday and Saturday. Tickets for these 90-minute cruises, at 10am and noon, are $35 for CBMM members and $45 for non-members and include festival admission.
In addition, Patriot Cruises will present Narrated Historical Cruises on the Miles River at 12:30pm and 2:30pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, plus an Evening River Cruise at 5pm on Saturday. Combo tickets that include festival admission and a PATRIOT cruise are also available for all three days through the ticketing portal at visit.cbmm.org.
Food and beverages from several regional vendors will be available for purchase all three days, including a beer truck offering domestic and craft selections.
Throughout the weekend, the local chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society will host a series of boating history talks sponsored by PropTalk Magazine in the Van Lennep Auditorium.
The featured speakers will share their knowledge on a range of topics, many of which explore this year’s festival theme. The lineup includes a presentation from CBMM’s Chief Historian Pete Lesher on “Ohio’s Matthews” on Friday at 1pm.
Two-day tickets for the Antique & Classic Boat Festival and Coastal Arts Fair can be purchased in advance online or at the door. No single-day tickets will be sold to this rain-or-shine event.
For online sales, festival admission is set at $22 for adults, $19 for seniors (65+) and students (17+), $10 for active and retired military members, and $9 for children ages 6-to-17, with all children 5-and-younger admitted free. The cost is $2 more for all tickets for in-person sales.
CBMM members receive discounted pricing for this annual festival and others throughout the year. Adult member tickets purchased online are $10, and all children of members (17-and-younger) receive free admission. To support CBMM’s mission as a member and discover all the terrific benefits of membership, visit cbmm.org/memberships or contact Membership Services Coordinator Debbie Ruzicka at 410-745-4991 or druzicka@cbmm.org.
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 information on how to register a boat, become a vendor, or sign up to sell in the Field of Dreams or nautical flea market, visit chesapeakebayacbs.org.
For safety reasons, non-service dogs must be kept at home during CBMM festivals, including the Antique & Classic Boat Festival and Coastal Arts Fair. Carry-on alcohol from dock or land is prohibited.
