Overview
Maritime Heritage and Sea Shanty Festival
Saturday, November 8, 2025 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
We’re celebrating Yorktown’s rich maritime history with two jam-packed days of fun!
Visitors can sample some of the best seafood in the area, like oysters, lobster rolls, and shrimp. Artisans will be selling nautical-inspired jewelry and art. Pirates will invade the waterfront to talk to kids about seafaring life, and there will be educational information for mariners of all ages. Enjoy live music, kids’ crafts, and more at the scenic waterfront!
This event was held at Watermen’s Museum, 309 Water Street, Yorktown, VA 23690.
Curated History
Located on the Yorktown, Virginia waterfront just upriver from the Riverwalk shopping and dining area and the George P. Coleman Bridge, the Watermen’s Museum is the perfect addition to your Historic Triangle visit.
Our mission is to demonstrate the role Chesapeake Bay Watermen, from pre-colonial to modern times, have played in the shaping of our nation. We provide historical exhibits depicting military and civilian water craft and activities, crafts and methods of their trade, and a look into the lives of the people that have worked and fought on the water.
The Watermen’s Museum offers school and civic groups 11 different educational field trips and we conduct summer children’s programs in topics such as: Archaeology, Boatbuilding, Environmental Explorer, and Pirate Life. Really maritime life and environmental education wrapped up in a Hollywood-style pirate them to ensure the little ones enjoy learning.
ShantyGrass is the Watermen's Museum band, akin to how Forebitter was the official chantey band of the Mystic Seaport Museum.