Celebrate City of Water Day Around Jamaica Bay on July 12

This Saturday, July 12 marks City of Water Day, a day celebrating our shared waterfronts and highlighting community-based climate resilience. The day will be celebrated along waterfronts around the city, including our very own Jamaica Bay. As part of City of Water Day, partner organization Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) is hosing its 8th Annual Jamaica Bay Festival on Saturday, July 12. This free, family-friendly festival spans the 10,000 acres of parklands surrounding Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn and Queens, highlighting the beauty, biodiversity, and community spirit of New York City’s largest tidal estuary.

This year, JBRPC is partnering with over 30 local community groups to host a full day of free public events from morning to evening. Participants can enjoy kayaking, birding, shoreline cleanups, yoga, guided nature walks, live music, and more. The events span from Floyd Bennett Field to Fort Tilden, Riis Park, Rockaway Beach, Arverne, Edgemere, Bayswater and Broad Channel. The festival aims to increase awareness of Jamaica Bay as a vital, ecological, recreational, and cultural resource – and connect New Yorkers of all ages with their local waterfront.

The full schedule of over 30 events is organized into four themes—Active Recreation, Nature & Wildlife, Stewardship, and Arts & Culture—and is available via an interactive map at JamaicaBayFestival.com

Active Recreation:

Enjoy water-based and land-based activities including kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, biking, yoga, and guided fitness classes. These experiences encourage healthy, outdoor fun while deepening appreciation for our local parklands.

Nature & Wildlife:

Join expert-led walks, living shoreline tours, and even solar viewing with astronomers. These programs highlight Jamaica Bay’s remarkable habitats and native wildlife, from shorebirds to saltmarsh grasses.

Stewardship:

Get hands-on with volunteer cleanups and habitat restoration efforts—including a shoreline cleanup at the North Channel Bridge. Participants can help preserve and protect the very spaces we gather to celebrate.

Arts & Culture: 

Enjoy live music performances, a local art exhibit, and see historic aircraft up-close—activities that celebrate the stories, people, and history that make Jamaica Bay so special.

“The Jamaica Bay Festival provides a powerful platform to celebrate our shoreline, highlight community partnerships, and engage New Yorkers in the care and stewardship of their local environment,” Terri Carta, Executive Director of JBRPC, said. “Jamaica Bay is one of the most ecologically productive and culturally rich parts of New York City, and we’re thrilled to invite neighbors and visitors to experience all it has to offer.”

One local highlight will be in conjunction with The Garden by the Bay. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Garden by the Bay will be hosting kayaking out of Beach 43rd Street Park (592 Beach 43rd Street). They’ll also have arts and crafts, environmental awareness discussions, games, kite flying and live music. All kayaking lessons are free and life vests are provided. Children must be accompanied by an adult or legal guardian.

“The Jamaica Bay Festival has become an integral part of the Rockaway community and The Garden by the Bay is honored to be a part of such an amazing partnership that brings community members from near and far together to enjoy and celebrate this beautiful estuary called Jamaica Bay. Whether it be birding, kayaking, rowing or simply picnicking along the Bay, the Jamaica Bay Festival has something for everyone,” Jackie Rogers, President of The Garden by the Bay and Edgemere Alliance, said.

Another highlight will be a waterbird hike. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., join Gabriel Willow Nature Tours at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to search the mudflats and ponds of Jamaica Bay to observe the many breeding species and migratory plovers and sandpipers that will already be headed south from their arctic breeding grounds. Bring binoculars if you have them and wear shoes you don’t mind getting muddy.

Another great option is to spend the day sailing! From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sail Rockaway is hosting free sailing tours and lessons. Experience the peace and serenity of sailing in and around the bay’s salt marshes, where many bird and aquatic species thrive, such as diamondback terrapin turtles and cownose rays. Guests will be able to try their hand at sailing the boat if they wish, under the supervision of the captain. All ages are welcome. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Sail Rockaway is based at Marina 59 (360 Beach 59th St.) in Arverne.

Please note that most programs require pre-registration. To register or for full event schedules, head to www.cityofwaterday.org/eventsmap or JamaicaBayFestival.com

The Jamaica Bay Festival is made possible through partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, and local businesses across Brooklyn and Queens. The Festival is generously supported, in part, by the Hudson River Foundation, New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program, Waterfront Alliance, and ConEdison. NYC Ferry is the official transportation sponsor of the Jamaica Bay Festival. Use the NYC Ferry App for up-to-date routes and schedules.

The Festival is one of several JBRPC public engagement and stewardship initiatives that receive public funding through the offices of NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers, Minority Leader Joann Ariola, and Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, NY Senator Roxanne Persaud, and NY Assembly Members Stacey Pheffer Amato and Jaime R. Williams.