Olympia’s largest maritime festival is back this weekend with famous tugboat races
Olympia’s long-held tradition of gathering for boat tours, tugboat races and other festivities is back this weekend.
Though Olympia Harbor Days lived on in a smaller, simpler form through the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s back to its full schedule this year for its 49th run.
This year’s festival will run from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 2 to Sept. 4 and will include family-friendly events, music, boats and more. Events will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, including the infamous tugboat races at noon.
An assortment of vintage and replica tugboats will be on display, and this year’s festival will include the return of the 85-foot tug Chippewa, which has been under renovation and hasn’t been at the festival for more than 10 years.
In 2020, the SSMHA created an online presentation of the festival and a self-guided waterfront tour. The same can be said for 2021, when a few one-day events were added, including mini tugboat displays at the Port Plaza and some live entertainment.
This year’s festival will include the Makers Market, offering goods and foods from local artisans. Two stages will feature live music, poetry readings, tribal sharings and more.
The events will be kicked off with a Squaxin Island Tribe blessing, followed by a performance from local rock band Pumphouse. Around Percival Landing there will be cornhole and other games, as well as dinner and drink options such as smoked salmon and a beer garden.
The whole family-friendly weekend will include kids’ activities such as a Lego build where kids can create a tugboat, yacht or pirate ship to be put on display in the Lottery Marine Discovery Center at the Puget Sound Estuarium.
For those with a hankering for some buried treasure, the city’s Harbor House has you covered. New this year, local boating clubs will display boats and information about water recreation and how to get involved. And the Coast Salish Tribes will be teaching drum making.
Saturday and Sunday are when the big events take place: Vintage Tugboat tours and races. People will have a chance to tour the boats from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday before they’re off to race at noon Sunday. You’ll have to be on the water to be able to watch the race — but the heritage association planned for that.
The tall ship Lady Washington will be arrive this week as well as the Mosquito Steam Ship Virginia V, a 100-year-old steamboat. Both boats will offer tours by donation and trips out on Budd Inlet for a fee. Tickets can be secured online. Two Olympia Schooners also will offer sailings for a fee for up to 6 people at a time.
Harbor Days executive director Carol Riley said there are quite a few changes this year, but most of them are positive.
“It’s been a challenge on every single front,” she said.
Riley said several new groups and performances have been added to the weekend schedule, and vendors are continuing to register for spots in the festival. She said tugboat owners also are continuing to register, but there won’t be as many as there were in previous years, due to high fuel prices and supply chain issues.
She said the pandemic forced many artisans to close down their businesses, and the association has lost contact with those they typically partner with for the festival. And all but one of 15 food vendors is new this year. But that doesn’t mean it won’t feel like any of the other 48 Harbor Days.
“I’m really excited about the event we’re presenting to the community,” Riley said. “The vendors, featured artists, musicians are all very excited and looking forward to coming back to live events. Those are where memories are made.”
Riley said this year’s festival is giving them the chance to test-run being back in person before the festival’s 50th anniversary next year.
More information about the weekend’s schedule can be found online. The festival is free, but donations of $5 per person or $10 per family are suggested.
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