Olympia Harbor Days

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2025  5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2025  10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2025 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

A south sound maritime heritage association event
Winner of the Best South Puget Sound Event of 2022
by the Washington Festivals and Events Association
and winner of the Best Festival by South Sound Magazine 2023 Best Of Awards

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PLEASE EMAIL INFO@HARBORDAYS.COM 
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR NEED MORE INFORMATION.
All plans and activities are always subject to change without public or advanced notice.
Olympia Harbor Days is held rain or shine.

The Olympia Harbor Days Festival, a free event offered every Labor Day Weekend, is an award winning free and family friendly event that showcases many of the vintage tugboats of the Puget Sound with a walk aboard show at the docks and races in the bay.  Visitors to the event may also find tall ships, steamships, other historic vessels of twentieth century commerce, tribal canoes, and current recreational small watercraft.  Harbor crises and sailings on Budd Bay are also offered.

On land, festival attendees enjoy great food, great music, great artisans, plus nautical and marine themed attractions, and hands on activities, including Olympia’s tugboat heritage, tribal history and the working waterfront with Port of Olympia tours.  All in all, here are over 300 things to do and see.

Bring your kids to this family-friendly maritime celebration and fuel their dreams of working on the water and sailing the world when they grow up. Olympia Harbor Days Festival also includes locally hand built small watercraft, tribal cultural sharings, sand carving, a LEGO Harbor Build, and dancing pirates just to name a few. The location at Percival Landing is a well-known Pacific Northwest maritime landmark located in downtown Olympia, the WA state Capitol, and is the southern-most tip of the Puget Sound, a destination for many who travel by boat. Hotels, shops, gallery’s, a children’s museum, restaurants, and bars featuring locally brewed beers, wines and distillery products are all within walking distance of the event.  For more to do before or after your festival visit go to www.experienceolympia.com.

A MARITIME HERITAGE FESTIVAL

HISTORY
1974 - 2025

In 1974, the tugboats and crews of the Puget Sound returned to the beautiful waterfront of Olympia to celebrate the end of the summer season.
This gathering was the start of Olympia Harbor Days, an annual FREE family festival dedicated to the community as a celebration of maritime heritage hosted by the South Sound Maritime Heritage Association, supporting South Sound maritime history and the tugboat tradition since 1974. In 1978, Harbor Fair, an arts, crafts, food and music festival, was added.

“Olympia Harbor Days is our favorite family Festival of the Year!” 2018

Olympia Harbor Days became the third largest festival in Thurston County and home of the World’s Largest Vintage Tugboat Races, attracting over 55,000 visitors annually, featuring 300+ booths, ships, activities, music and food. Touring the tugboats and watching them race remains the highlight of the festival, something “kids” young and old never seem to grow tired of. The festival was held every Labor Day Weekend.

“It was so much fun, I went to the festival twice over the weekend!” 2019

The 2020 Olympia Harbor Days festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. The SSMHA quickly pivoted to an online presentation of Olympia Harbor Days Lite with safe at home activities and added the Maritime Heritage Self-Guided Tour along the Waterfront. 2021, due to continued pandemic restrictions, was planned as another Lite event with the addition of a one-day small presence at the Port Plaza with 4 Mini Tugboats on display, a Lego Harbor Build and some live entertainment, but no vendor booths or food booths.

SSMHA was pleased to present the full festival in 2022, which was named
Best South Puget Sound Event of 2022 by the Washington Festivals and Events Association.

SSMHA went onward to 2023 presenting our 50 year celebration, where we featured a one-of-a-kind drone maritime light show!

2025 celebrates a change of Executive Directorship. After 9 years of navigating the course, Carol Riley has handed over the helm to Megan Ready for the 52nd year celebration!

FUTURE

JOIN US FOR THE NEXT HARBOR DAYS EVENT - AUGUST 29-AUGUST 31, 2025!

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SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL 2024 BUSINESS SPONSORS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS!
PLEASE SHOW THEM YOUR SUPPORT.

Special thanks to Experience Olympia & Beyond!
Click the logo below to learn more about visiting Thurston County.

Olympia Harbor Days is supported, in part, by grants from the following organizations: