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Wooden Boat Festival: A first-timer's guide to festival

by Northwest Maritime Center 31 Jul 2023 05:20 AEST September 8-10, 2023
September 8-10, 2023

First time at Festival?

The Wooden Boat Festival is a celebration of boatbuilding skills, craft, education, and adventure. There are hundreds of wooden boats of all shapes and varieties, hands-on demonstrations and presentations, activities for kids, and a number of ways to get out on the water. If youre new to Festival, you may be wonderingwhere do I start?

Here are some tips and cant-miss activities to make the most of your Festival experience:
 
Tour the Boats
One of the most fun things to do is go aboard boats and talk to the owners. All the boats are open for the Festival public to tour from 9 AM to 6 PM. 
Check out the Presentations
If you are new to boats and boating, check out the Adventure Stage where avid adventurers recount their tales of voyagesboth big and smalland share captivating photographs. Learn why and how they do it, and relish the inspiration.
Visit the Woodworking Tent
& Make Something

Get hands-on and make a wooden pen, cheese board, or small bowl, and get a feel for working with wood. More experienced woodworkers can challenge themselves by practicing dovetail joinery.
 
Watch the Famous Sail By at
3 PM on Sunday

A Festival tradition! Enjoy a one-of-a-kind showcase of hundreds of the regions most treasured boats taking to the water together to do what they were made to do: go sailing! Large and small, newly built and historic, some 250300 gorgeous wooden boats grace Port Townsend Bay and sail right past the Festival grounds. 
Check out The Point
Home of the Paddleboard Pool, Kids Cove, and the return of the pirate bar The Wee Nip. With stunning views of the Port Townsend Bay and the whole Festival harbor, The Point is a treasure trove of things to do for families and adults alike.
 
 
Keep Reading
 
 

Get your Wooden Boat Festival Tickets!

Skip the lines and buy your tickets online today.
Get Your Tickets

Become a Festival Volunteer

Volunteer shifts for this year's Wooden Boat Festival are live on our website. Volunteering is a great way to meet new friends, experience the Festival from the inside, and simply have some fun. Working three shifts will earn you a Festival volunteer t-shirt and get you in for free all weekend long!
Sign Up to Volunteer
 

Thank you to our sponsors

 
   
           

AGMarine, Edensaw Woods, Admiral Ship Supply, Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, Port Townsend Brewing, Sunrise Coffee, and New Day Fisheries

Photos by NWMC staff, Douglas Ludwig, and Russ Stamp
Copyright © 2023 Northwest Maritime Center, All rights reserved.

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