10 am – 3 pm
Everyone is invited to our inaugural Maritime Heritage Festival, a free, family-friendly weekend of events and activities happening September 13 and 14 on the Halifax waterfront around the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic!
We’re working with over 25 partner organizations to celebrate our Maritime heritage and invite the public to enjoy a variety of daytime programming – from live Maritime music and historic ship tours, fun interactive activities with our ocean friends and marine organizations, to pop-up museum displays, Raina the Mermaid, Back to the Sea touch tank!
Enjoy live music performances from: Drummers from Home, Yarmouth Shantymen, Celtic Ensemble, Boarding Party, Halifax Newcomer Choir and the Stadacona Band!
Festival goers will also see hands-on learning and youth boat building with the recently announced MMA Boat School!
Come for boatloads of fun and things to “sea and do”! The festivities happen along Halifax’s waterfront, transforming the Maritime Heritage District, from our museum and historic ship, CSS Acadia to Sackville Landing and HMCS Sackville!
Other Participating Partners include: COVE, Nova Scotia Sea School, Sea Turtle Network, Royal Canadian Navy, Sea Cadets, Bluenose II, Naval Museum, Shearwater Aviation Museum, Mermaids of Halifax, Back to the Sea, Canadian Global Network, Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, Canada’s Immigration Museum at Pier 21, Parks Canada, Ocean Tracking Network, Bedford Institute of Technology, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and many more.
Saturday, September 13: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Maritime Exhibitions & Programs at the Maritime Heritage District, including CSS Acadia and HMCS Sackville:
- Kids’ Passport Challenge (collect 5+ stamps at the exhibits, enter a prize draw)
- Youth Boat Building at MMA Boat School (Museum courtyard)
- Programs aboard CSS Acadia & HMCS Sackville (with COVE & Halifax Amateur Radio Club)
- Mini Mariners Makerspace (Sea in Her Blood, surfer mural)
- Make a Sailor Knot Mini-Wreath (1–3 pm)
- Back to Sea Touch Tank (11 am–2 pm, Blue Wave Zone)
- Raina the Mermaid (12 pm–2 pm, Blue Wave Zone)
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)/Canadian Armed Forces hosts:
- Deck tours aboard historic HMCS Oriole the oldest ship in the RCN!
- Fleet Maintenance Facility (FMF) Cape Scott to experience an inflated life raft, and learn how their Riggers fabricate boarding ladders and shot mats
- Pop up booths from the Naval Museum of Halifax and Shearwater Aviation Museum
- Naval Reserve divers with a Diver Support Vehicle with dive gear for festival goers try on while learning about life in the RCN!
- See up close a 6-pound naval field cannon carriage and limber while chatting with some Naval Experience (NEP) participants who were part of the 2025 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo!
Music at Anchor Yard Stage:
- 10:00 am – Drummers From Home
- 11:00 am – Yarmouth Shantymen
- 1:00 pm – Celtic Ensemble
- 2:00 pm – Boarding Party
Sunday, September 14: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Maritime Exhibitions & Programs at the Maritime Heritage District, including CSS Acadia and HMCS Sackville:
- Kids’ Passport Challenge (collect 5+ stamps at the exhibits, enter a prize draw)
- Youth Boat Building at MMA Boat School (Museum courtyard)
- Programs aboard CSS Acadia & HMCS Sackville (with COVE & Halifax Amateur Radio Club)
- Mini Mariners Makerspace (Sea in Her Blood, surfer mural)
- Make a Sailor Knot Mini-Wreath (1–3 pm)
- Back to Sea Touch Tank (11 am–2 pm, Blue Wave Zone)
- Raina the Mermaid (12 pm–2 pm, Blue Wave Zone)
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)/Canadian Armed Forces hosts:
- Deck tours aboard historic HMCS Oriole the oldest ship in the RCN!
- Fleet Maintenance Facility (FMF) Cape Scott to experience an inflated life raft, and learn how their Riggers fabricate boarding ladders and shot mats
- Pop up booths from the Naval Museum of Halifax and Shearwater Aviation Museum
- Naval Reserve divers with a Diver Support Vehicle with dive gear for festival goers try on while learning about life in the RCN!
- See up close a 6-pound naval field cannon carriage and limber while chatting with some Naval Experience (NEP) participants who were part of the 2025 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo!
Music at Anchor Yard Stage:
- 11:00 am – Halifax Newcomer Choir
- 2:00 pm – Stadacona Band
1:30 pm – Youth Boat Launch Celebration! (Museum Wharf)