The H. Lee White Maritime Museum and New York Sea Grant have announced a full slate of family fun for the 2026 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival on Saturday, June 6th in Oswego, New York. The festival will be held from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the City’s Historic Maritime District along the 1 West First Street Pier. 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 may create a maritime themed t-shirt (one per child).
Sailboat Sprint! races will take place with prizes for different age groups. Free kits to make and decorate a wooden toy sailboat to race in a water tank on the pier at the festival are available at the H. Lee White Maritime Museum (daily 1:00-5:00 p.m.), the Oswego Downtown Visitors Center (Wednesdays-Fridays 12:00-4:00 p.m.) or at the Children’s Museum of Oswego (Tuesdays-Sundays). Boats may be available to build and race on festival day, as supplies allow. The Sailboat Sprint! 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.
The story of “Colonel Meacham’s Giant Cheese,” as written by H. Lee White Maritime Museum founder Rosemary S. Nesbitt, will be read at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the historic Derrick Boat No. 8. The first 100 families participating in the “Giant Cheese” 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 and the family dog, and on how to reduce exposure to harmful algae by dogs. Beach and boating safety tips will also be available.
The Great Lakes Institute will have festival activities that include making origami boats; coloring pages of ships, fish, and lake depth levels pages, 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 be at the festival with their water rescue units.
Celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary! The National Historic Landmark World War II U.S. Army Large Tug, LT-5, one of the last vessels of its type that participated in the D-Day June 6, 1944 landing of Allied forces in France, 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 operators will be talking with “hams” on historic museum ships around the world.
The Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival is sponsored in part by Eagle Beverage and Adventure at Burritt’s Marine and Powersports in Oswego, and hosted by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum with assistance from New York Sea Grant. The museum and its Treasure Chest gift shop will be open during the festival. 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.