The 56th Annual John Gardner Small Craft Festival

The 2026 John Gardner Small Workshop will again be held during the WoodenBoat Show at Mysic Seaport Museum from Friday, June 26th thru Sunday June 28th from 9 am to 5 pm, hosted by the Traditional Small Craft Association’s John Gardner Chapter.

In addition to having a booth to acquaint show attendees with the TSCA, there will also be demonstrations of skills that enhance the traditional small boat experience. Mystic Seaport Boathouse craft will be available at no charge for participants to use. We are hoping for a continuous back drop to the Show of traditional small craft in action on the river.

All TSCA members are encouraged to attend with or without your own boat! There is plenty to do if you don’t bring your own vessel. Launching and parking details will be posted with registration materials. Before Museum hours at 8 am on Saturday and Sunday mornings there will be a cruise in-company open to all workshop attendees. We will gather at the Australia Beach and cruise either up the mighty Mystic River past the highway bridge to the beautiful salt marshes or down river past the Village and classic yachts to Six-Penny Island. As the afternoon breeze fills we plan add our small boats to the scene by sailing the River’s broad upper bays.

This year’s theme will be “We Use our Boats” highlighting how practical and capable our traditional small craft can be. Attendees will be encouraged to help with the workshop, either by staffing the booth at Australia Beach or giving a demonstration of some skill such as sail rigging, sculling, boat building, hardware making etc. If you have a skill that you would like to share at the show please volunteer. Check at the booth for topics and times.

Registration for the Small Craft Workshop also allows you admission to the WoodenBoat Show and Museum all three days at no additional cost. WoodenBoat plans a series of speakers through the weekend. Likewise, the Museum will be holding skills demonstrations in the Shipyard.

Indicate your interest in staffing the booth or demonstrating a skill on the registration form or contact Bill Rutherford at smallcrafter@gmail.com 860-222-5249

Registration will be posted on the Mystic Seaport Museum website Calendar page under the date June 26, 2026 at https://secure.mysticseaport.org