Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival Offers Family Fun for Everyone!

OSWEGO – The H. Lee White Maritime Museum and New York Sea Grant today announced a full slate of family activities for the 2026 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival on Saturday, June 6! The event runs from noon to 4 p.m. in the Historic Maritime District along West First Street Pier in Oswego. Admission is free. The children’s activities at the festival are sponsored in part by Oswego Elks Lodge #271.

The Happy Pirates theatre troupe with Captain Gully, Scuttle and Sharkbait invite festival visitors to laugh, sing and dance along with their seafaring songs. Costumes are encouraged!

Under the big tent, children can create a maritime themed t-shirt (one per child).

Sailboat Sprint! races start at 12:30 p.m. with prize ceremony at 4 p.m. Awards presented for different age groups. The activity is sponsored by Raby’s ACE Home Center, the Oswego Middle School wood shop, the Children’s Museum of Oswego, the City of Oswego Visitors Center and H. Lee White Maritime Museum.

Free kits to make and decorate a wooden toy sailboat to race in a water tank at the festival are available at the H. Lee White Maritime Museum, 1 W. First St. Pier, open daily from 1 to 5 p.m.; the Oswego Downtown Visitors Center, 201 W. First St., open Wednesdays through Fridays, from noon to 4 p.m.; or at the Children’s Museum of Oswego, 7 W. First St., open Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Boats may also be available to build and race on festival day, as supplies allow.

The story of “Colonel Meacham’s Giant Cheese,” as written by H. Lee White Maritime Museum founder Rosemary S. Nesbitt, will be read at 1 and 3 p.m. in the historic Derrick Boat No. 8. The first 100 families participating in the reading activity will receive a free copy of the book.

The first 50 families or teachers to visit the New York Sea Grant booth will receive a free copy of Enviro-Time Storytime: Recommended Environmental Reading Lists for Children Pre-K to 12. New York Sea Grant curated the lists with assistance from the Park School of Buffalo, the University at Buffalo, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Wisconsin Sea Grant. Environmental-theme coloring pages will also be available at the booth.

New York Sea Grant will also have information on how to properly size a flotation vest for every member of the family, including the family dog, and how to reduce exposure to harmful algae by dogs. Beach and boating safety tips will also be available.

The Great Lakes Institute will host activities such as making origami boats; coloring pages of ships, fish and lake depth; and knot-tying to make a key chain to take home. The Institute is housed at SUNY Oswego.

“Ronny Raindrop” coloring books will be available at the Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation District booth for take-home fun.

If not called into service, the U.S. Coast Guard and Oswego Fire Department Marine One unit will both be at the festival with their water rescue units.

Don’t forget to celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary at the festival! The National Historic Landmark World War II U.S. Army Tug LT-5, one of the last vessels of its type that participated in the D-Day landing of Allied forces in France on June 6, 1944, will be featured in an activity for children. Those completing the activity will receive a free giveaway item.

On and near Derrick Boat No. 8, amateur radio “ham” operators will be talking with “hams” on historic museum ships around the world during the festival and all weekend from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, in honor of Historic Museum Ships Weekend.

The Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival is sponsored in part by Eagle Beverage and Adventure at Burritt’s Marine and Powersports in Oswego. It is hosted by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum with assistance from New York Sea Grant.

New York Sea Grant integrates research, education, and extension services focused on coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about New York’s Great Lakes and marine resources, nyseagrant.org.

The museum and its Treasure Chest gift shop will be open during the festival. For event and museum information, go to www.hlwmm.org.

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