Celebrate the heritage of Southern Maryland at the Calvert Marine Museum’s fourth annual Solomons Maritime Festival. Antique boats and motors, master maritime carvers, home crafts and cooking demonstrations, traditional music, children’s games, and boat rides offer something for every member of your family. The Solomons Maritime Festival is Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.calvertmarinemuseum.com for information and directions. 

On Saturday, the museum will come alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of Southern Maryland traditions. Visitors can learn how to shuck an oyster, mix up a crab cake, and sauté a soft shelled crab from local experts. Our traditional music stage in the newly completed Corbin Pavilion will feature down home music throughout the day.           

Chesapeake Bay retriever demonstrations can be seen both in the water and on land. Model radio controlled boats will run a mock race course. Nearby, children can build toy boats under the watchful eyes of our small craft guild members. And all the while, boats are coming and going offering free rides on the historic bugeye, the Wm. B. Tennison. For those who like going under their own power, there are rowboats and canoes available too.

A popular component of the festival is the Antique Boat and Marine Engine Show, now in its 9th year. Enthusiasts from across the country set-up camp in the parking lot to show off their vintage boats and engines. The unofficial engine swap is a great way to expand your collection. Also celebrated are traditional crafts. Around the carving shed, visitors can see how crab and eel pots are made, see model boat makers in action, and watch traditional carvers at work. Come try your skill inside the museum! Demonstrations of quilting, embroidery, knitting, and other textile crafts will be on-going. Home baked goodies, complete with recipes will also be available for sale. Food vendors will also be on-site.  

For information on the Solomons Maritime Festival, please call Sherry Reid at 410-326-2042 x 19, or visit the museum website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.  Admission to the Festival and Museum is FREE.