Oswego, N.Y. - The H. Lee White Maritime Museum and New York Sea Grant announce new features and hours for the 2025 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival! The free event will run from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 17 along the Oswego Port Authority West Pier at 1 W. First St., Oswego. This year’s Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival includes live raptors, boats, e-bikes, historic maritime vessels, boat tours, water rescue emergency services, Great Lakes conservation and science exhibits, and free admission to the museum. The event is sponsored in part by Eagle Beverage and Adventure at Burritt’s Marine and Powersports in Oswego.

Live Raptors: A New Festival Feature!

Live birds from the Braddock Bay Raptor Research (BBRR) program will be at the 2025 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival from noon to 3 p.m. BBRR studies raptor migration along Lake Ontario through raptor counts and banding research. Education is a key part of its mission, using non-releasable raptor ambassadors for outreach about migration and conservation issues. Braddock Bay is among the bird migration sites along Lake Ontario.

Children’s Activities: Happy Pirates, T-Shirt Art and More!

The Happy Pirates entertainment troupe of Rochester will share seafaring fun, activities, and laughter with Captain Gully and his ukelele, the prankster Scuttle, and a silly Sharkbait crewmate. The children’s activities area will also have a maritime theme t-shirt art area staffed by retired Oswego City School District art teacher Julie Smith.

Build a Toy Boat for the Sailboat Sprint!

The 2025 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival Sailboat Sprint returns for kids aged 5 to 15 to assemble a wooden toy boat to race in pairs in a long tank on the pier. To make a boat ahead of the event, pick up a free kit at the H. Lee White Maritime Museum, 1 W. First St. Pier; the Children’s Museum of Oswego, 7 W. Bridge Street; or SNAX at 167 W. First St., all in Oswego. While supplies last, kits may also be available at the festival. Thanks to the Oswego Middle School wood shop for providing the kits.

Boating Safety and Water Rescue Demonstrations

National Boating Safety Week runs from May 17-23 and the Oswego Fire Department will have a crew at the event with water rescue vessels along with fire and water safety, and rescue information. Weather permitting, firefighters will conduct mock rescue demonstrations in the water off the pier. The U.S. Coast Guard Station Oswego and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 2-6 will have exhibits and boating safety information available. New York Sea Grant will have free New York State Boating Guides, information cards on boating and beach hazards, and a display of electronic visual distress signals and other boating safety equipment.

Outdoor Recreation and Great Lakes Science on Display!

Adventure at Burritt’s is adding e-bikes to its marine recreational vessels exhibit with a fishing boat and pontoon for the 2025 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival. Fair Haven Kayak will have rental kayak and paddleboard equipment for exploring waters such as Sterling Creek and Little Sodus Bay on display.

Information will be available from Oswego County Tourism, the City of Oswego and Oswego’s Historic Maritime District, the Oswego Yacht Club, New York State Dive Association, Sodus Bay Maritime Captains Association, and the Antique and Classic Boat Society: Finger Lakes Chapter. SUNY Oswego’s Great Lakes Institute, Rice Creek Field Station, Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation, St. Lawrence-Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will be there with Great Lakes science and conservation exhibits.

Tour Historic Vessels and Reserve Tickets for a Lighthouse Boat Tour!

H. Lee White Maritime Museum volunteers lead tours of a replica of the traditional 1850s-era topsail schooner “Ontario” being refit on the dock for on-water youth and adult education and sail training. Visitors can also tour the steam-powered Derrick Boat 8 built in Syracuse in 1927, in service on the New York State Barge Canal until 1984, designated by the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, and now serving dockside at the museum.

Weather permitting, boat tours to the historic Oswego Lighthouse will be available from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. from Wright’s Landing for $20 per adult and $15 for children ages 5-12. Contact the museum at 315-342-0480 to reserve a time.

New Exhibit Honors Erie Canal’s 200th Anniversary

Rain or shine, the H. Lee White Maritime Museum will be open with free admission during the festival. Visitors will see the new “Enterprising Waters: New York’s Erie Canal” exhibit presented in partnership with the New York State Museum. The exhibit chronicles the Erie Canal from conception to present day with interpretive panels and unique artifacts such as a silk ribbon worn by an attendee at the “Wedding of the Waters” in 1825 at New York Harbor when Governor Dewitt Clinton poured water from Lake Erie into the Canal. The 23.7-mile Oswego Canal connecting the Erie Canal at Three Rivers to Lake Ontario at Oswego was opened in 1828.

The H. Lee White Maritime Museum in Oswego’s Historic Maritime District captures over 400 years of local and American maritime heritage with exhibits and an extensive collection of artifacts, images, archival records, original artwork, models, and historic vessels that include one of the last remaining tugboats used in the World War II invasion at Normandy. The Museum’s Treasure Chest gift shop will be open during the festival. Learn more at www.hlwmm.org, on Facebook, or call 315-342-0480.

New York Sea Grant is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York and one of 34 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program. Its statewide network integrates research, education, and extension services focused on coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness and understanding about New York's Great Lakes and marine resources, www.nyseagrant.org.

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