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Chesapeake Celebrations: Love the Bay
Chesapeake Celebrations: Love the Bay
Saturday, Aug. 15 | 10am-5pm
New for 2026, CBMM’s Chesapeake Celebrations bring the Bay to life, inviting guests of all ages to discover our region’s vibrant history, environment, and culture through hands-on activities, engaging presentations, and on-the-water experiences with staff, volunteers, and community partners. Included with general admission, these campus-wide celebrations include Savor the Shore (Saturday, May 16), Play on the Bay (Saturday, June 27), Stories from the Shoreline (Saturday, July 18), and Love the Bay (Saturday, Aug. 15). Join us to experience our mission in action!
We are excited to invite educators from across the Eastern Shore and beyond to join us for a free day of fun at our Chesapeake Celebrations. All PK-12 teachers, administrators, and support staff—along with their immediate families—are invited to join us as a thank you for the incredible impact they make in the lives of students in our community every day. Use the educator link below to reserve your free tickets! Click here to learn more.
During CBMM’s Love the Bay celebration on Saturday, Aug. 15, you’re invited to share your love for the Chesapeake through a day of hands-on environmental discovery with community partners dedicated to keeping our waters clean and thriving. Through engaging activities for all ages, you’ll explore the Bay, learn about its ecosystems, and discover simple ways you can help protect this vital resource. Join us for a fun and meaningful day on our waterfront campus!
This Chesapeake Celebration is included with general admission, which is always free for CBMM members. Non-members save $2 by buying in advance online.
Our friends from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (10am-2pm) will be on hand to share air quality testing and an oyster dissection at 11:30am. We’re also thrilled to welcome the NPS Chesapeake Gateways Roving Rangers (10am-2pm) to join the celebration.
At 11:45am, head to Fogg’s Cove to cheer on CBMM Summer Campers in a cardboard boat regatta. The campers built these imaginative, colorful, and uniquely named vessels earlier this summer and now will get to take to the water to test their seaworthiness.
CBMM’s Education Team will share water quality testing from 11:30am-1pm and also introduce guests to some of the fascinating creatures that call the oyster reef along the Living Shoreline home through a touch tank experience from 10-11:30am. Stop by the Heirloom Garden from 10am-1pm for demos and hands-on fun.
Additional festivities include catch-and-release fishing from our docks, storytime with “Drew’s Grand Adventure” author Natasha Nash Dixon (10:30-11am) and the Talbot County Free Library (11-11:30am), and more fun with our staff, volunteers, and community partners.
To start the day, we’re offering a Morning Paddle from 8am-11am. Join our experienced kayak guides for a guided morning paddle, showcasing the Miles River at its most peaceful.
Bringing the day’s theme to the screen, we’re presenting the film “A Voice for the Rivers” during featured screenings at 11am and 2pm in the Craig Fuller & Diane Terpeluk Theater.
Don’t miss the opportunity to get out on the Miles River during the Love the Bay celebration. Patriot Cruises will be offering its 70-minute Narrated Historical Cruise at 12:30 and 2:30pm. Click here to buy combo tickets for a cruise and general admission. Later, we’re thrilled to welcome Joe Bryan aboard PATRIOT for Live Music Cruises at 5pm and 7pm.
We’re also offering our Historic Workboat Experience cruises at 10:30am, noon, and 1:30pm. These one-hour, interactive cruises offer the chance to try your hand at the traditional tools and techniques used to harvest crabs and oysters aboard a historic workboat in CBMM’s floating fleet on an authentic Chesapeake adventure! Click here to buy combo tickets for the cruise and general admission.
Join us for our Blue Crabs From Bay to Table guided tour at 11am. This one-hour tour shares the incredible history and distinctive culture of the Chesapeake Bay, exploring the connections between the environment and people over time. Click here to buy combo tickets for the tour and CBMM general admission. They are free for CBMM members.
Chesapeake Celebrations are supported from the Upper Shore Regional Folklife Center under the Maryland Traditions program of the Maryland State Arts Council.
Chesapeake Celebrations: Love the Bay
Date/Time: Saturday, Aug. 15, 10am-5pm
Location: CBMM’s Campus
Cost: Included with CBMM General Admission Save $2 by purchasing your tickets in advance online!
CBMM MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
