Celebrate Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week

Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week is an annual event that celebrates the culture, history and natural beauty of the nation’s largest estuary.

Two people in a kayak paddling off into a wide, expansive river.

Join us from June 3 to 11, 2023 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. During the week, there are a wide variety of online and in-person events, volunteer opportunities and social media conversations for everyone to take part in to celebrate 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 over the years, marking their own observance of the Bay. Organizations and business are encouraged to hold events, activities and volunteer opportunities during this time to celebrate the uniqueness of the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Program is honored to help coordinate and play a role in this annual event.

During Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week, organizations host recreational, educational and volunteer events across the entire watershed. If you’d like to add an event to the calendar below, please fill out this event submission form.

Events

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Thursday, June 1, 2023

Fishing in Canoes

Make your own fishhooks and then get to try them out!

View event details‍
Saint Leonard, MD

Celebrate on social media

Join environmental groups, community organizations, businesses, local leaders and nature enthusiasts from across the watershed as we celebrate the event over social media.

This year, the theme of Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week is “Chesapeake Journeys.” Each day, we will share stories about the journeys people and wildlife take within the Chesapeake region.

  • Saturday, June 3rd: Kicking off Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week

  • Sunday, June 4th: From the headwaters to the Bay

  • Monday, June 5th: Wildlife migrations

  • Tuesday, June 6th: Restoring our watershed

  • Wednesday, June 7th: Preserving special places

  • Thursday, June 8th: Journey by land

  • Friday, June 9th: Journey by water

  • Saturday, June 10: Resilience of the watershed

  • Sunday, June 11: Begin your stewardship journey

Social media toolkit

Included in our social media toolkit are sample posts, graphics and relevant content you can share throughout the nine days. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #BayAwarenessWeek when posting about the event!

Download our toolkit

Photos

Review our collection of Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week photographs to use for social media posts, event materials, and other communications. Refer to our Terms of Use page for proper citation.