Maritime Market Festival – Yorktown Market Days
Saturday, November 12
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Riverwalk Landing
It is the Annual Maritime Market at Yorktown Market Days. Pirates “ARRRR” going to invade the waterfront to teach curious kids about seafaring life, and there will be educational information for mariners of all ages. Join the buccaneers for a live sea shanties singalong on the Riverwalk Landing Stage. Kids can also make crafts for their “mateys”, get their face painted or join buccaneers for a live sea shanties singalong. This is an extended farmers market, where you 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. There are 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝟓𝟎 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔 coming to this special market (see vendors attending)! You can even sing along to live sea shanties on the Riverwalk Landing Stage or join in the “Tea Party” reenactment!
“Seas” the day by sampling some of the best seafood in the area, including oysters, lobster rolls, and shrimp. Guests can also shop for nautical-inspired art and jewelry.
Schedule for the Day:
𝟗 𝒂.𝒎. 𝒕𝒐 𝟑 𝒑.𝒎.
- Blacksmiths demos (In front of the LOVE Letters, next to the Freight Shed)
- History Fair (Freight Shed)
- A nautical display curated by Allen Holston, a York County waterman and founder of Workboat Life (Freight Shed)
- Chesapeake Bay workboat models by Butch Watkins (Freight Shed)
- Author Larry Chowning meet-and-greet (Freight Shed)
- Market vendors and food trucks
- Nao Trinidad (Riverwalk Landing Piers – tour for 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 during the festival!)
- Pirate encampment
- Workboat displays and tours (Riverwalk Landing Pier)
𝟏𝟎 𝒂.𝒎. 𝒕𝒐 𝟑 𝒑.𝒎.
- Clan MacCool Band (Riverwalk Landing Stage)
- Face painting (Behind the Freight Shed)
- Kids crafts (while supplies last)
𝟏𝟎 𝒂.𝒎.
- The Fifes and Drums of York Town
𝟏𝟐 𝒑.𝒎.
- Yorktown Tea Party Reenactment (Meet at the Freight Shed)
Other activities include:
- Tour Luna, a replica of a 1768 Virginia two-masted sailing sloop, which will be docked at the Riverwalk Landing Piers.
- Learn about local historical organizations or view workboat displays during the History Fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Freight Shed.
- Observe blacksmith and colonial reenactments throughout the day.
- Watch the Fifes and Drums of York Town perform at 10 a.m.
All “concerned citizens” are invited to gather in front of the Freight Shed for rousing speeches of “No More Taxation!” – simulating the same 18th-century protest that took place right here during Yorktown’s very own Tea Party. On the pier, costumed interpreters (including Thomas Nelson, Jr.) will board a boat to make the symbolic “heave” of two small chests of tea into the York River.
It’s going to be an exciting day to pay tribute to Virginia’s history and heritage by honoring, celebrating, and preserving the proud traditions of the men and women who have made a living for centuries on the Chesapeake Bay and its estuaries, including the York River.
Learn more at VisitYorktown.org
