Connecticut Sea Music Festival

Connecticut Sea Music Festival

June 12-15, 2026

The 5th Annual CT Sea Music Festival will drop anchor in historic downtown Essex on June 12-15, 2026. As Stroll Essex Village Magazine states, “This beloved weekend is a highlight of the season that brings our community’s nautical heritage to life.” The CT Sea Music Festival is an event put on by the Maritime Music & Tradition Society to enact its mission of preserving and encouraging maritime and traditional music through education, research, performance, and community.  Through the festival they aim to share and teach stories, roots, and culture behind the wonderful and expansive world of maritime music, from deepwater sailing to inland waterways.

The family-friendly weekend includes a Symposium on the Music of the Sea, free daytime workshops and concerts featuring local and regional maritime performers, a family stage, CT River sails, a hymn sing, and late-night pub sings. Also included are demonstrations of sailor skills and Irish currach rowing, a fife and drum parade on Saturday morning down Main Street, and a Revolutionary War reenactment on the Essex Historical Society’s Pratt House grounds, honoring America’s Semi-Quincentennial celebration. Evening concerts at the CT River Museum are ticketed events. To purchase a ticket, please click here.

The Connecticut Sea Music Festival takes place on the Connecticut River Museum campus. There is no parking available on the Museum campus. Further event details, including the event schedule, can be found on the Sea Music Festival website.

The CT Sea Music Festival is a project of the Maritime Music & Tradition Society Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It receives sponsorships from The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA), The Folk Music Society of New York, Inc., The Paul Foundation, and support from The Griswold Inn and The Essex Corinthian Yacht Club.