Photo courtesy of the Water Front Alliance
July 7, 2021 By Ryan Songalia
An annual festival for outdoor enthusiasts will be taking place at Jamaica Bay this Saturday.
The Jamaica Bay Festival, organized by the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, will provide the public with the opportunity to paddle a kayak, learn how to fish, watch nature, go sailing and participate in various other activities.
The event, which is free, takes place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The festival, which is in its fourth year, will take place in areas along Jamaica Bay, including Far Rockaway and Rockaway Beach, as well as in coastal Brooklyn.
Bayswater Park and Shirley Chisholm State Park will host multiple events throughout the day.
The Kayak Parade, considered the festival’s highlight, will begin at 9 a.m. from various points by Sunset Cove, where paddlers can view the FDNY spray boat, which shoots water out of cannons from various angles.
At Bayswater Park, visitors can learn to do stand-up paddle boarding or observe nature and wildlife with the Urban Park Rangers. Further down, at Fort Tilden in Breezy Point, visitors will be able to observe piping plovers, which are endangered birds that nest each year on the Rockaway Peninsula.
Those interested in yoga can join classes at the Rockaway Hotel rooftop or Rockaway Beach, while the Black Surfing Association will conduct a water safety clinic at Rockaway Beach Skate Park.
Some of the activities in Brooklyn will include fishing lessons, free bike rentals and bird watching.
The festival is part of the Waterfront Alliance’s City of Water Day, a region-wide event that celebrates New York’s waterways and aims to raise awareness about the risk of climate change and its effects on the coastal area.
A full list of activities and links to register for the Jamaica Bay events can be found here
Map of activities at the Jamaica Bay Festival
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