For the next three days, Easton, Maryland, goes all out for a celebration of the Chesapeake Bay waterfowl tradition. Throughout this picturesque Talbot County town, you can see and experience all the trappings of waterfowl hunting, from the World Waterfowl Calling Contest to competitions for highly trained hunting dogs to show off their dock-jumping, retrieving, and field training. You can also take in stunning art exhibits or invest in a collectible piece.
The cultural experience comes to life with live music at several stages around town, food trucks and vendors everywhere you turn, a “Beer Wetlands”, and kids’ activities including a live mermaid show, the Phillips Wharf Fishmobile, fishing derby, and craft activities.
Amid these immersive Eastern Shore experiences, the art is what really makes the Waterfowl Festival shine. Waterfowl artists from up and down the Bay and across the country exhibit and sell their paintings, carvings, photography and sculptures. You can shop for beautiful, Bay wildlife-inspired art pieces big and small.
Each year the Waterfowl Festival chooses a Featured Artist, and for 2024 it is wildlife painter-sculptor Ronnie Wells. His sculpture “Cans in the Decoys” will be on display at the festival. It is a nod to the Ward Brothers canvasback duck decoys. “To my notion there has never been a better example of creating a functional working decoy, with the nuance of the species and at the same time producing a classic piece of art,” Wells says of the highly collectible Ward Brothers decoys. “I thought the use of the decoy was a good way to honor the Ward Brothers, as well as the Canvasback, the King of the Ducks!”
While the “King of the Ducks” stands proudly in sculpture form in Easton, a group of elite waterfowl callers will be vying to become king of the duck callers. The Waterfowl Festival is known internationally for its high-level calling competitions. In the World Championship Goose Calling Championship, 600-plus spectators watch novices and master blowers compete for prize packages worth up to $12,000.
Meanwhile at various fields, ponds and docks, trained dogs will show off their waterfowl hunting skills. A DockDogs sanctioned event allows dogs to perform in contests like the “Speed Retrieve Competition” and the “Extreme Vertical Competition”. Elsewhere, retriever dogs demonstrate their ability to leap into a pond and fetch a thrown or hidden dummy. In a field demonstration, the dog training technique known as the Silent Command System will be on display. We’re in awe of the dogs and their handlers.
You can get up close with raptors at the Skyhunters In Flight educational program, which teaches people about these sharp-clawed predatory birds. You can refine your fishing technique with fly rod demonstrations. It’s an ancient art known for its difficulty that uses artificial lures instead of bait to catch fish.
With such a wide range of experiences happening all over Easton, many of the venues are best accessed on foot or by bus. The Waterfowl Festival website has guidance on which bus line to take to various parts of the festival. We recommend choosing your top-priority events, because you may never make it to every one! Tickets are $25 for all three days of the festival, with children under 10 getting in free. You can find the full schedule here.
