It’s Maryland Fleet Week!! There are so many great activities going on with this festival, including Air Show Baltimore. Fleet Week organizers lined up a variety of performers, food vendors and environmental, military, maritime and cultural heritage-related exhibitors for the Fleet Week Festival. Also open during Fleet Week are the Chesapeake Galley and Beer Garden at the Inner Harbor and the Open House and Free Festival at Martin State Airport. In addition, Baltimore has the honor of hosting the USS Zumwalt, the U.S. Navy’s newest vessel, on October 15th for the ship’s commissioning ceremony!
Maryland Fleet Week and Air Show Baltimore celebrates the rich maritime traditions of the Chesapeake Bay! I’m so excited to tell you all about this year’s events.
The Festival starts on Thursday, October 13, and runs through Sunday, October 16. The Festival is open from 1 PM to 6 PM daily. Make sure you check out the exhibitors as they each provide free interactive activities such as a pull-up bar challenge, a matching game for commodities that come through the Port of Baltimore! Plus there is a STEM trailer with three areas (Briefing, Mission and Debriefing). The U.S. Navy Band performs daily at 1 PM at the Harborplace Amphitheater. Various street performers entertain throughout each afternoon. Know what’s really cool? AT&T, one of the festival’s sponsor, will provide four charging stations!
The Chesapeake Galley and Beer Garden, located at the West Shore Park at the Inner Harbor, will offer food, drink and musical performances. Dates and times for the Galley and Garden are Saturday, October 15 from 11 AM to 9 PM, and Sunday, October 16 12 PM to 6 PM.
Inner Harbor food vendors on the weekend include booths from Cunningham’s Café, Dooby’s, Mothers Grille, and Ryleigh’s Oyster. Food trucks present include Brick n’ Fire Pizza, Greek on the Street, Pasta La Vista, and Taharka Brothers.
The Martin State Airport Open House and Free Festival will take place on both Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16 from 10 AM to 5 PM. The open house and festival will feature food vendors, military and aviation exhibitors. Plus there are fun activities such as face painting and picture making from the cockpit of an F-4 parked on the ramp! There will also be a static displays of various military and heritage airplanes and helicopters. While visitors to Airport may watch the air show participants take off and land; the air show itself will not be able to be seen from this location. The Blue Angels and other pilots will mingle with visitors after their flights have concluded. This is a great opportunity to get autographs from the pilots!
Martin State Airport food vendors include booths hosted by Chick-Fil-A, Funtastic Foods, Jad’s Caddy Shack, and Tim’s Treats. Food trucks present include Kona Ice and Polley’s Duck-in-Foods.
The Maryland Department of Commerce, Office of Tourism, and Historic Ships in Baltimore join together with the U.S. Navy to present this amazing week. Fleet Week Festival partners include Waterfront Partnership, Union 3 and Select Events; Open House and Free Festival partners include Martin State Airport staff, volunteers of the Glenn L Martin Aviation Museum, and various Baltimore County agency staff. Northrop Grumman Corporation serve as the event’s title sponsor.
Here is the layout of all the activities…
Inner Harbor Entertainment (West Shore Park)
Saturday, October 15
11:00 AM – DJ Kopec (spins during each subsequent band break)
12:00 PM – Firekite
1:30 PM – Ricky Wise & The Dirty Unit
3:00 PM – Rachel Ann Morgan Band
5:00 PM – Gypsy Soup Revival
7:00 PM – Junkfood
8:30 PM – DJ Kopec
Sunday, October 16
12:00 PM – DJ Kopec (spins during each subsequent band break)
12:30 PM – Charm City Junction
2:15 PM – Jah Works
4:15 PM – Sam Grow
5:45 PM – DJ Kopec
Inner Harbor Entertainment (Harborplace Amphitheater)
Thursday, October 13
11:00 AM – U.S. Navy Cruisers (as part of student Meet the Fleet event)
Friday, October 14
1:00 PM – U.S. Navy Country Current
Saturday, October 15
1:00 PM – U.S. Navy Commodores
Sunday, October 16
1:00 PM – U.S. Navy Cruisers
Inner Harbor Exhibitors
Thursday – Sunday (unless otherwise noted)
AT&T / Baltimore National Heritage Area / Carroll County Tourism Office (Friday–Sunday) / Chesapeake Conservancy (Friday–Sunday) / Chesapeake Bay Program / Chesapeake Bay Trust (Friday and Saturday) / Community College of Baltimore / Geico Skytypers / Living Classrooms Foundation (Friday–Sunday) / Mr. Trash Wheel/Healthy Harbor (Friday–Sunday) / Marine Corps Recruiting Station Baltimore / Maryland Museum of Military History (Friday–Sunday) / National Electronics Museum / National Great Blacks in Wax Museum (Sunday only) /Naval History and Heritage Command / Navy Federal Credit Union / Universal Sailing Club (TBD) / USAA / U.S. Army Reserves / U.S. Coast Guard Recruiting Office Baltimore / U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps & US Naval League Cadet Corps (Saturday and Sunday) / U.S. Navy / U.S. Navy Energy & Environmental Readiness Division / Veteran Center, Department of Veteran Affairs (Thursday and Friday) / Wood Art USA
The Historic Ships in Baltimore will be open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. They will all be located within easy walking distance of each other: US Sloop-of-War CONSTELLATION, US Submarine TORSK, US Coast Guard Cutter TANEY, and Lightship 116 CHESAPEAKE exhibit life at sea from the mid-19th century to the mid-1980s.
Martin State Airport Entertainment
Saturday, October 15
11 AM – 12:30 PM – US Navy Band Country Current
Sunday, October 16
11 AM – 12:30 PM – US Navy Band Commodores
Martin State Airport Exhibitors
Armed Forces Store / Aviation and Military Collectibles / Brett Aviation / Community College of Baltimore County Aviation Program / Creative Occasions (face painting) / Dream Photo (pictures taken in an F4 cockpit on the ramp) / Middle River Aviation / Plane Things / Strayer University Race Car / U.S. Air Force / U.S. Coast Guard / U.S. Marines / U.S. Navy Sea Cadets / U.S. Navy STEM
Additionally, the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum will be open October 12-16 (Wednesday thru Friday 11 AM – 3 PM, Saturday and Sunday 10 AM – 5 PM).
Aircraft on Display at Martin State Airport
Brett Aviation DA-2 / Canadian CF/A-18 / Geico Skytypers SNJ-2 / Glenn L. Martin Museum A-4 / Glenn L. Martin Museum A-7 / Glenn L. Martin Museum F-4 / Glenn L. Martin Museum H-1 / Maryland Air National Guard A-10 / Middle River Aviation R-22 / Scott Francis MXS / U.S. Air Force F-16 (TENTATIVE) / U.S. Marine Corps AH-1W (TENTATIVE) / U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels F/A-18 / U.S. Navy F/A-18 F / U.S. Navy T-45 / U.S. Navy H-60
While the U.S. Air Force F-22 and U.S. Air Force F-35 will not be on display, you can watch them take off and land at the airport.
Throughout the week-long celebration, visitors can tag photos and share videos on social media platforms using the hashtag #MDfleetweek and #SelfieWithaSailor or @MartinState while at Martin State Airport for their open house and festival.
Will there be ample parking near Ft. McHenry or shuttles running to the fort from various areas? Will food and drink vendors be at the fort?
Hi James. Unfortunately parking will be limited and restricted near Fort McHenry tomorrow and Sunday due to the air show. However, the Baltimore Water Taxi will be running to and from the fort. This link is has more public transportation and parking info: http://www.visitmaryland.org/article/about-maryland-fleet-week-air-show-baltimore
I really would like to make it but because of previous obligations, I may miss it. Will there be another event soon? :(