Since its days as a crucial colonial port, Urbanna's waterfront has always been an essential part of the town's life. In its recent past, its docks were filled with Chesapeake buy boats and deadrises as watermen bought and sold oysters and crabs that they had harvested.

At the Urbanna Town Marina at Upton's Point, the Oyster Festival Waterfront will showcase the area's varied history and emphasize the heritage and conservation of the bay with boats and exhibits. Visitors can dance to music from the concert stage throughout the weekend, board traditional vessels, and learn about the traditions of the watermen and the oyster industry, and the preservation of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Thursday before the Festival, November 1, is Oyster Festival Education Day, presented in cooperation with the Marine Science Legacy Program, when the waterfront is closed to the general public so that area schools have the opportunity to visit the exhibits and attend special programs. The waterfront will be open to the public during the festival on Friday and Saturday, November 2 & 3.

At the Town Docks:
F.D. Crockett from Deltaville Maritime Museum.
Propwash (formerly Agnes Sterling) Dumfries, VA.
Godspeed from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

For the Children: Seaworthy Small Ships.

Marine Science Legacy Featured Education Day Programs:
Supported by a "License Plate" Grant from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund
Colonial Seaport Foundation – Living History of Port Urbanna
Jamestown – Yorktown Foundation – Godspeed
Northern Neck Chantey Singers

Marine Science Legacy Exhibitors

Education Day and Festival:
Yorktown Watermen's Museum
Captain John Smith National Historic Water Trail
Friends of the Rappahannock
Chesapeake Bay Oyster Company
Tidewater Oyster Gardeners
Chesapeake Bay Governor's School
Ready Reef, Inc.
Christchurch School of Marine Science
Oyster Company of Virginia
VA Tech. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Education Day only:
Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Tidewater Soil and Water Conservation District
Shores & Ruark / Middlesex Museum
USCG Auxiliary, Flotilla 62
Northern Neck Chantey Singers
Middlesex Elementary School

Additional Festival Exhibitors on Friday and Saturday:
The Mariner's Museum
Virginia Coastal Zone Management
Reedville Fishermen's Museum
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The dinghy dock is available for use during the festival. No water taxis will be running.