TACOMA – The only festival that celebrates Tacoma’s working waterfront will return to the Foss Waterway in September.
Maritime Fest, now in its 22nd year, will be held Sept. 20-21 at Thea’s Park and the Foss Waterway Seaport at 705 Dock Street. In addition to highlighting the contributions the working waterfront has made to Tacoma, the festival will focus on Puget Sound recreational watercraft and marine education.
Maritime Fest is a free community event for people of all ages. In addition to the popular toy boat building and remote control boats, the festival will include a range of boat displays from tug boats to tall ships, a beer garden, musical entertainment, sailboat rides and an entertainment stage just for kids.
Back again is the hugely popular Quick and Dirty Boat Building Contest. Now in its 8th year, the contest features local teams that have to build a boat from scratch and race it around a course within six hours. Team registrations for the contest are now being accepted at our website.
Sponsors for this year’s festival include The Port of Tacoma, Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE), Vigor Industrial, Belina Interiors, Horizon Lines, Crowley Maritime, TEMCO, and the Foss Waterway Development Authority. These companies not only help make the festival possible, but as community business members they also showcase the importance of the port to the continued growth of the city.
For more information about Maritime Fest, including parking and transportation details, please visit www.maritimefest.org.