For a while now, the East Boston Harborkeepers, a group founded in 2016 to promote climate resiliency, has been fostering environmental stewardship along the neighborhood’s shoreline.
On Friday, August 27 the Harborkeepers will host the Annual Marine and Maritime Festival at Constitution Beach from 11 am to 2 pm.
Harborkeepers Founder and Director Magdelena Ayed said the event, sponsored by a host of local supporters as well as the US Coast Guard, Save the HarborSave the Bay Better Beaches Program and the Massachusetts DCR, will feature a whole host of activities throughout the day.
Ayed said there was a slight tweak this year in the official name of the festival due to the participation of the Coast Guard.
“We are excited to continue the planning for the now-called “Maritime Beach Festival in partnership with the US Coast Guard Sector Boston,” she said. “The event name evolution is due to the need to create a more seamless identity and brand this year due to our collaborations with the Mayor’s Office of Public Service. We are delighted to have such collaborations in one of the best waterfront spaces in Boston.”
The festival will feature marine activities, art, performances, demonstrations by the United States Coast Guard, free kayaking, face-painting, a sand castle contest, scavenger hunt and many more engaging and fun things to do.
“This event really aims to bring environmental stewardship to the community,” said Ayed. “We want to get the community excited about all the efforts to improve the waterfront. As a coastal community the festival will also provide opportunities to learn about the neighborhood’s maritime history and our waterfront.”
With 15 miles of coastline in Eastie the festival is really a celebration of the community’s maritime roots.
“We are surrounded by water and we are really celebrating the fact that we are lucky to live in this amazing place surrounded by a beautiful clean harbor,” she said.
Harborkeepers is a 501(c)3 non-profit with a mission to promote marine education, community engagement and environmental stewardship in our urban coastal neighborhoods and beyond. Hundreds of people attended the annual event in 2019 but it was postponed last summer due to COVID.