Salem Maritime Festival

Presented by the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, the annual Salem Maritime Festival in August hosts an exciting array of free family fun festivities, including live music, traditional craft demonstrations and seaport trade exhibits, story-telling, and family fun! Each year, music, demonstrations, exhibits, and children's activities are available throughout the park and on Derby Wharf in Salem Massachusetts!

The day will kick off the Great Salem Maritime Cardboard Boat Regatta. Teams of two will test their engineering, ingenuity, and artistry by building homemade boats constructed on cardboard and duct tape. Launching from Derby Beach in a series of heats, teams will race to paddle their cardboard boats in the Salem Sound.

Schedule of Events

• 11:00 am - 1:00 pm: The Great Salem Maritime Cardboard Boat Regatta (races and award ceremony)
• 12:00 noon - 6:00 pm: Demonstrators, exhibits, and activities
• 12:45 pm - 6:30 pm: Live music and entertainment
• 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Free kayak and paddleboat rentals
• 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Reopening of the Salem Custom House

The Great Salem Maritime Cardboard Boat Regatta

Join Salem Maritime National Historic Site for Salem's favorite cardbord-themed event! Taking place during the Maritime Festival, local teams will race their homemade cardboard boats in Salem Harbor. Spectators are encouraged to line Derby Wharf and cheer on the racers.

If you would like to learn more about competing in the Cardboard Boat Regatta, please follow this link (https://www.nps.gov/sama/planyourvisit/cardboard-boatregatta.htm) to review the rules and submit an application.

Live Music and Entertainment

12:45 pm - 2:15 pm – Squeezebox Stompers – Cajun, New Orleans Mardi Gras Music
2:30 pm - 3:15 pm – Evan The Magician
3:30 pm - 4:45 pm - Sweet Soul Sounds – Motown
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm – Luna Latin Jazz Group – Latin Jazz, Salsa
Tony Toledo - Master of Ceremonies

• Squeezebox Stompers

  • The Squeezebox Stompers are a Boston area Americana Roots band. They have performed Cajun, Zydeco, Blues, Folk, and originals all over New England for the past 15 years. Members of the band have received Boston Music Awards and Songwriting Awards. They are noted for their step-lively up-beat music inspiring audiences to get up and dance.

• Evan the Magician

  • Evan Northup has 10 years of musical theater, 15 years of musical perfomance, and 20 years of dance experience. All of these skills are brought together in his magic performances. For Evan, magic remains the perfect balance of creative outlet and challenging work.

• Sweet Soul Sounds

  • This Salem, Massachusetts-based cover band centers the Motown tradition in its fun, dance friendly performances. Greg Coles and Nicole Harris, Vocals. Grant Clark, Percussion. Rory McKenzie, Bass. Alton Hollister, Saxophone.

Vessels

Schooner Adventure

Visit the 1926 dory-fishing Schooner Adventure. The National Historic Landmark Schooner Adventure is one of the last surviving Grand Banks dory-fishing schooners. She is a national treasure that sails as an icon of the American fisheries and as a floating classroom celebrating maritime history. The schooner is operated at sea along the New England coast, as a living monument to Massachusetts’ fishing heritage. Schooner Adventure will be open from 12 noon - 6 pm.

Friendship of Salem

Friendship will be open for deck tours from 11 am - 6 pm. Due to the ongoing construction project onboard, tours will be in small groups of 6 people at a time throughout the day.

About Friendship of Salem: The original Friendship, a two-decked, three-masted, square-rigged, 342-ton vessel was built from 1796-1797. The Friendship made 15 international voyages before being captured during the War of 1812. The replica tall ship, Friendship of Salem, is docked at Derby Wharf and was designed to present the appearance an original 1797 Salem-built vessel. The keel was laid in Scarano Shipyard in Albany, New York in 1996 and uses modern technology and materials to meet today’s safety and accessibility requirements.

Jolly Boat - BOB

The jolly boat will available for viewing from 11 am - 6 pm at the wharf behind Pedrick Store House.

The Friendship of Salem jolly boat was built, and is still maintained, by the ship's volunteers. Traditionally, a jolly boat was used to bring people and small amounts of supplies between the ship and shore when anchored in port. The Friendship of Salem's jolly boat is named "BOB." This is not a historic name, but rather one given to it due to the large number of volunteers involved in building it who were named Bob. In the summer months, you can often see "BOB" being rowed through Salem Harbor by our volunteers

Kayaks and Paddleboards

Free paddleboard and kayak rentals will be available to use off of Central Wharf from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. An instructor will be onsite for anyone who needs a lesson. Safety equipment will be available.

Exhibitors

Explore the stories of Salem and beyond with local exhibitors and community organizations. Visit the exhibitor tents from 12 noon to 6 pm.

• Acadia Sailors
• Andy Volpe - Copper Plate Engraver
• Bill Wasson - Rope Making
• Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki People
• Environment for the Americas
• Essex National Heritage Area
• Geraldine Brancato - Spinning Wheel
• House of the Seven Gables
• Mary Ellen Smiley - Basket Weaving
• Mary Mangan - Ipswich Lace Maker
• Norumbega - Canoe Makers
• North Shore CDC
• Peabody Essex Museum
• Rogue's Armada
• Ron Raiseles - Cooper
• Salem Sound Coast Watch
• Salem United
• U.S.S. Constitution Modelers

Reopening the Custom House

After a major repair and preservation project, the Custom House will be reopened to the public. Step inside the historic structure, built in 1819, that housed offices for the officers of the U.S. Customs Service, as well as an attached warehouse, the Public Stores, used for the storage of bonded and impounded cargo. Park staff and volunteers will offer interpretive talks as you explore the historic building and exhibits.

These significant repairs helped correct years of deterioration of the historic structure and protect these important pieces of American history. The project included extensive repairs to exterior and interior features of the building, including the portico, railings, shutters, cupola, snow and ice rail, roof, chimneys and plaster walls. All wood and metal on the exterior of the building, and interior surfaces, was painted.