October 13-14, 2007 Wooden Boat Festival

Wooden Boat Festival – The vast majority of the funding for the Museum's operations are provided by proceeds from the annual Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival, which attracts 30,000 or more wooden boat enthusiasts to the banks of the Tchefuncte River . The Museum would not be here today were it not for the Festival, but one of its major financial goals for the future is to reduce our dependence on this weather vulnerable event. (see photos below)

Maritime Heritage Day – The purpose of this new annual museum event is to foster, encourage, share and preserve traditional expressions of Louisiana folk culture, with an emphasis on the maritime heritage of this area. Targeted primarily for students in the third through eighth grades, this event will feature folk artists, groups and exhibits demonstrating traditional activities and skills like alligator hunting, boat building, commercial fishing, fishnet making, cooking, blacksmithing, miniature boat making, sail making, storytelling, knot tying, navigation, and other aspects of the maritime industry. Over one thousand local area students attended the first event in April, 2005.