For three days every November, between 18,000 and 20,000 visitors discover the best of local wildlife, nature, art, heritage, food, and fun at the annual Waterfowl Festival. This year’s Festival will be held November 8-10, 2024 and tickets for three days are only $25 each.
While it focuses on art, sportsmanship, and conservation, the festival is fully integrated into Easton. The streets in downtown become a vast pedestrian mall, allowing you to stroll from event venues to locally owned boutiques, art exhibits, and top-notch restaurants with ease. There’s a lively vibe as families, couples, friends, and even dogs — lots of dogs — soak in the best of the season.
Wild About Art
Excellent wildlife art defines the Waterfowl Festival. Painters, sculptors, carvers, and photographers from all over North America exhibit at different venues, offering a chance to engage with the artists directly. Hundreds of pieces of artwork will be on sale, making this event a major attraction for art collectors, whether you’re looking for investment pieces or unique holiday gifts for friends and family.
Each year, the festival highlights a featured artist, and this year’s artist is Ronnie Wells. His work will be displayed in the Artist Pavilion presented by PNC Bank on Harrison Street, across from the Waterfowl Building. You can see Wells’ work on this year’s festival poster, which features his new waterfowl-themed oil painting, “Cans In the Decoys.”
Easton is a well-regarded arts hub, anchored by one of the East Coast’s finest small art museums, the Academy Art Museum, which this year will be exhibiting art produced by wildlife artists, along with its own extraordinary collection. You can interact with artists and watch them work at galleries throughout downtown.
For the Sportsman
Extensive festival programming means there’s always something fun and engaging to do at the Waterfowl Festival. Retriever Demonstrations are among the most popular events of the weekend, where hunting dogs respond to their handlers’ commands as they dive into a local pond, locate objects, and bring them back to shore, always to a cheering crowd.
Animal lovers will also want to check out the Dock Dogs competition, a national competition where pooches put their paws to the test in a long jump from dock to water to see which dog can leap the furthest. And the highest stake event of the entire festival weekend is the World Championship Duck and Goose Calling Contests, where winners can net a prize purses of $5,000-$12,000.
Crab, Oysters, and More
No visit to the Eastern Shore is complete without sampling the best of what the Chesapeake Bay offers. Food vendors will be serving crabs and oysters, served in every imaginable way. Try local favorites including cream of crab soup and freshly shucked oysters on the half shell.
At the festival’s tasting pavilion, $10 earns you unlimited small pours, along with tastings from local artisanal purveyors. And nearby, a beer “wetland” and garden serves up regional craft brews and games, including cornhole.
People-watching is a must during the festival weekend. Discover a perfect perch at one of Easton’s acclaimed restaurants, many of which offer outdoor dining on their patios, porches, and sidewalks.
Along Harrison Street, try the garden courtyard at Legal Assets for shareable bites, many with Asian flair, or the wide patio at Hunter’s Tavern, where they’ve been serving local specialties since 1949. On Washington Street, take a table on the slate patio at Scossa, renowned for Northern Italian fare, or a window seat at The Wardroom, coveted for cheese plates and an international wine selection.
Cap off your weekend visit with a sweet treat at one of downtown Easton’s two locally-owned ice cream parlors. Storm & Daughters is ideal for kid favorites, serving rainbow sherbet and towering waffle sundaes, while Bonheur appeals to a sophisticated palate with grownup egg-custard-based frozen treats, including pistachio almond and coffee toffee crunch.
Festival Facts
A three-day pass costs $25 ($20 before Oct. 1) and provides free parking, entry to all venues, and bus transportation to and from satellite sites.
Elevate your experience with a VIP package that includes admission to the Festival’s daytime activities, an invitation to the Festival’s Premiere Night, access to the VIP Hospitality Suite at the Bullitt House where you can relax with refreshments in between exhibits, and exclusive discounts.
For the Kids
The Waterfowl Festival is a family-friendly event with a range of activities designed to engage and educate children. New this year is the Quackin’ Trail! Maps are available at ticket kiosks. The trail leads to educational activities, including the Phillips Wharf Fishmobile, “Skyhunters in Flight” raptor show, The Chesapeake Mermaid, face painting, and art activities throughout the festival. Children 10 and under are free with the purchase of an adult ticket. Don’t miss the kid’s calling contest at the Sportsman’s pavilion and the free, youth fishing derby.
Stay A While
Immerse yourself in the heart of downtown Easton by staying at an intimate bed and breakfast like Hummingbird Inn, a Queen Anne mansion with dog-sitting services, and the Bishop’s House, a romantic Victorian with cozy fireplaces in some guestrooms. Or base yourself at the town epicenter at the Tidewater Inn, a handsome brick hotel with a spa and restaurant. There are also a myriad of short-term rentals, from historic cottages to sprawling waterfront estates. Book early because Waterfowl Festival weekend is one of the busiest times of the year.
Going to the Dogs
Bring your four-legged buddies. They can attend dog-centric events, like retriever demos and diving dock competitions. Plus your dogs will be treated like VIPs in downtown Easton, where they can promenade along the main routes of the festival and fetch water and treats from local shops and restaurants. Pooches with competitive streaks can sign up on-site for the diving dog competition.
Insider Shopping Tip for Waterfowl Fans
Albright’s Gun Shop, nestled next to the Avalon Theatre, is a mecca for serious gun enthusiasts and collectors. Two excellent bookstores — Flying Cloud, which stocks new editions, and Vintage Books, which specializes in antique volumes — offer a large selection of books about the beautiful Chesapeake Bay region.
