The 2025 Jamaica Bay Festival Brought Exciting Community Events
Our Jamaica Bay Festival 2025 was a huge success! We wanted to take a moment to thank our partners, friends and neighbors for participating in our 8th annual Jamaica Bay Festival. Taking place on the City of Water Day, this festival aimed to bring together members of the community to celebrate the 10,000 acres of parklands surrounding Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn and Queens.
Thousands of community members participated in 32 events that highlighted stewardship, nature and wildlife, recreational activities, arts, and culture. The festival was a perfect opportunity to showcase the efforts of JBRPC and our many partners in maintaining New York City's largest tidal estuary as a clean, safe, and accessible environment. It worked to highlight the unparalleled opportunities and the natural beauty of this urban tidal estuary. Participants enjoyed free kayaking, fishing, surfing, hiking, bird watching, art, nature and more. Check out some highlights from the day on our Instagram, @jbrpc.
Community Kayaking
Live Music Performances
Mural Painting
Some of our events included a coastal clean up at Vernam Barbadoes with the NYC Parks Stewardship Team, an event to turn a lot into a botanical garden with the Eastern Queens Alliance, Vinyasa Yoga with Outdoor Movement, Kayak Parade with the Black Surfing Association, solar viewing with telescopes with the Amateur Astronomers Association, horseback riding with the NYC Parks Mounted Unit, and friendship bracelet making with Open Plans.
Our festival was made possible through the support of our sponsors and funders: the Waterfront Alliance, New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program, the Hudson River Foundation, Con Edison, and NYC Ferry (official transportation partner).
Check out Some Press Features of the Jamaica Bay Festival:
“Celebrating the Jamaica Bay Festival in Canarsie” | Canarsie Courier
“Annual Jamaica Bay Festival Starts Off Summer Strong” | The Wave
“This Weekend, New York City Will Have Tons of Free Watersports” | MSN
Did you enjoy the festival and want to explore more activities around stewardship, nature and wildlife, and recreational activities? Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy hosts events all year long. Listed below are some events to look forward to. For a full list of our events, check out our events page on our website.