Accokeek, MD—Returning for its third year at Piscataway Park, Celebrating the Potomac is a one-day, family-friendly event featuring live music, youth fishing lessons, cultural demonstrations, children’s activities, and watershed stewardship education taking place on Saturday, June 13 in Southern Prince George’s County.
Special events like Celebrating the Potomac allow the Accokeek Foundation, a non-profit educational organization serving the Washington D.C. area, to continue its work with national, regional and local organizations to highlight the importance of large landscape conservation and environmental stewardship. “Building heritage tourism along the river in Prince George’s County is a key strategy in preserving Potomac forests, wetlands, recreational opportunities, natural beauty and cultural heritage for generations to come,” explains Accokeek Foundation President and CEO, Dr. Lisa Hayes.
The event will kick off immediately following opening remarks at 11 am on Piscataway Park’s historic landscape located at 3400 Bryan Point Road in Accokeek, Maryland. Invited speakers include Governor Larry Hogan, Congressman Steny Hoyer, and Prince George’s County Council Chairman, Mel Franklin. Musical guests, Jumpin’ Jupiter, will play two sets staged at the site’s historic 18th century tobacco barn, one at 12 noon and the final set at 2:00 pm. Throughout the day, visitors can participate in various fishing- and boating-related activities including a casting contest with prizes to be awarded and a life-sized pirate ship constructed out of bales of hay. “We are especially excited to have our partners from Alice Ferguson Foundation and the Piscataway-Conoy tribe join us for the day’s festivities,” shares Director of Programs and Visitor Engagement, Andrea Jones. Alice Ferguson’s environmental education team will lead Trash-Free Potomac games while Piscataway-Conoy tribal members interpret the river’s importance through fishing and boating demonstrations. Another exciting addition to the schedule of events is emerging public artist and prolific songwriter, Kathryn Para. Para uses her growing body of original, educational songs, and poetry to teach thousands of children in the Washington D.C. area and across the country about the wonders of the local waterways, science, and Earth stewardship.
Prepared sandwiches, snacks and refreshments will be available for purchase. Visitors are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy lunch in the picnic grove or on a blanket while listening to the musical performances. Fresh, certified-organic farm produce grown onsite and heritage eggs will be featured as the on-farm market kicks off its season during the event. The event is from 11 am to 4 pm, and the park grounds is open from dawn to dusk; visitors are welcome to enjoy spending the day exploring the nature trails, visiting heritage breed animals in the barnyard, or launching kayaks into the Potomac for an early morning shoreline paddle.
Support for this event has been graciously provided by MGM National Harbor, Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail-NPS, Old Line Bank, Potomac River Heritage Tourism Alliance, and Maryland Department of the Environment.
Calendar Listing:
Saturday, June 13, 2015 11 am – 4 pm. Returning for its third year at Piscataway Park, Celebrating the Potomac is a family-friendly day of music and activities highlighting the cultural and environmental importance of our nation’s river. This year’s festival will feature Virginia’s most popular rockabilly band, Jumpin’ Jupiter, river-related “enviro-tainment” and ukulele lessons for kids and adults from musician Kathryn Para, Native American heritage fishing and boating demonstrations presented by Piscataway-Conoy tribal members, fishing with a National Park Service Ranger, casting accuracy contests for advanced and beginner fisher folks, and a colonial ship constructed of hay bales for land-loving kid-adventurers. General admission is $5 per person. Children 2 and under are free. Call the Accokeek Foundation at 301-283-2113 or visit www.accokeekfoundation.org for more information about the event.