Celebrate Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week
This annual event celebrates the cultures, history and natural beauty of the nation’s largest estuary.
Join us from June 7 to 15, 2025, for Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week! Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week is a time to celebrate the cultures, history and natural beauty of the nation's largest estuary. The week will include a wide variety of online and in-person events, volunteer opportunities and social media conversations so everyone can take part in celebrating the Chesapeake Bay.
History and purpose
In 2016, the Chesapeake Bay Commission worked with their legislative partners to formally designate nine days each June as Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week. This timing was chosen to correspond with two long-running Bay events: Clean the Bay Day in Virginia and the Patuxent River Wade-In in Maryland. Each year, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia pass official proclamations in honor of Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week. Several local county and city governments have followed suit, and the Chesapeake Bay Program has developed a proclamation template for local governments to use. Organizations and businesses are also encouraged to hold events, activities and volunteer opportunities during this time.
The Chesapeake Bay Program is honored to coordinate this annual event, and will share more information about our 2025 plans as Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week approaches.
Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week 2025
If you would like to participate in the planning of Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week in 2025, please email bmartinezpenn@chesapeakebay.net
Events
View allSaturday, June 7, 2025
Summer Birding Stroll: Pine Lake
Take a stroll around Pine Lake and look for breeding bird activity.
View event detailsBird Walk
Join avid Jug Bay birders to learn skills for identifying birds by sight and sound.
View event detailsHeroes on the Water - Kayaking
This event will be at Saint Mary's State Park in Leonardtown, Md. You will need a code to enter the park, which we will…
View event detailsClean the Bay Day
This short, three-hour annual event has a massive cumulative impact. Since the event began in 1989, this Virginia…
View event detailsFamily Walk at Woodend
Join expert naturalists on a leisurely walk through the habitats at Woodend.
View event detailsCitizen Data Science Workshop 5: Introduction to R
Have a dataset you have no idea how to handle? Want to improve the design of your study? Simply just want to learn something new? Come to a Citizen Data Science Workshop!
View event detailsVirginia Black Bear Festival
The Virginia Black Bear Festival is a free community event celebrating nature and mountain outdoors in Greene County, Shenandoah National Park and the Appalachian Trail.
View event detailsCelebrate on social media
Join businesses, community organizations, local leaders and nature enthusiasts from across the watershed as we celebrate the Chesapeake Bay on social media.
This year, the theme of Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week is “The Bay in your Backyard.” We're breaking the 9 days up into two different sub themes.
June 7-11 | Wonders of the Bay
Celebrate and highlight the many natural resources and inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay. Flora and fauna abound in the Bay watershed with many species providing ecosystem services right in our own communities.
June 12-15 | Protectors of the Bay
Celebrate and highlight the cultural, historical and recreational aspects of the Chesapeake Bay and how you play a part in its restoration.
Need ideas for your social posts? We've also created a list of sub themes you can follow.
- June 7- Kicking off Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week
- June 8- Habitats and Ecosystems of the Bay
- June 9- Native Animals
- June 10- Native Plants
- June 11- Invasive Species
- June 12- Fun on the Bay (Water-Based Activities)
- June 13- Fun on the Bay (Land-Based Activities)
- June 14- Historical Figures & Indigenous Perspectives
- June 15- Stewardship and Looking to the Future