SharkFest 2023 - Sink Your Teeth Into Fun

  • 16 Jul 2023
  • 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
  • 6908 Bel Air Rd, Natural History Society of MD

Registration

  • Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across America to offer special admission rates to the nation’s active duty military personnel including National Guard and Reserve and their families each summer. The military ID holder and up to five family members. The military ID holder can be either active duty service member or other dependent family member with the appropriate ID card. The active duty member does not have to be present for family members to use the program. Just bring your DD Form 1173 ID Card, or DD Form 1173-1 ID Card, for active duty military family members.
  • 3-12 years
  • Museums for All is a way to broaden a museum’s visitor base, and reach out to underserved communities. A museum visit can inspire the development of new skills and interests, and ignite creativity and enrich social connections. Museums for All will help expand access to museums and also raise public awareness about how museums in the U.S. are reaching their entire communities. By addressing financial and logistical barriers to visitation, Museums for All also aspires to be an effective strategy for mitigating the social and academic barriers individuals face when they are not exposed to high quality museum experiences. https://museums4all.org/
  • Active foster parents.
  • NHSM loves teachers. As a thank you for all you do, we are offering one free ticket to Sharkfest.

Registration is closed

Come to the shark side and chomp down on all things sharky! It’s time for our annual SharkFest, coming Sunday, July 16. Fill your head with awe for one of the most successful creatures to live on our planet.  Explore fossil and shark teeth collections, learn about shark behavior and anatomy from experts, and marvel at the apex predator of modern times.

Sharks win for being amazing creatures. But think fascinating in a different way – how would you like to meet a mermaid? Join Mermaid Seanna between 12 and 2 pm for a chat and photo. And stay for one of her 15-minute talks about merlife and sharks at 12:30 and 1:30 pm.

Speaking from our shark dive cage, Emmy-Award-winning underwater cinematographer  Nick Caloyianis joins us as a special guest. Ask him for the story of how the cage was damaged, with him in it, during a filming of Shark Week for the Discovery Channel. Nick has 30 National Geographic documentaries to his credit.

Mix science with hands-on games and crafts for a day full of activities for all ages. The kid zone will feature a sandpit where kids can dig for shark teeth and bones, just like a real paleontologist. Make a shark tooth necklace and paint a plaster Meg tooth for an extra small fee.

To delve deeper into shark waters, remember that Saturday night, July 15, is our kick-off event with guest shark researchers Dr. Bretton Kent, an expert on the fossil sharks found at Calvert Cliffs, and Lucy Howey, currently working with oceanic whitetip sharks. Doors open at 6 pm. Reserve your seat here: https://marylandnature.wildapricot.org/event-5309870. 

When you register for SharkFest, please note that the remaining open timed entry slots are 12 pm and 1 pm.  Please arrive around this time and stay for as long as you would like to stay.  There is no timed exit for this event. Please stop by the check-in tent before entering the museum or any outdoor stations to receive an armband and the official Sharkfest Scavenger Hunt for Knowledge form. Complete the hunt and earn a prize.

Children under 2 are free. Children 3-12 are $2. Adult prices vary with discounts available to certificated teachers, Resource Foster parents, and Museum for All and Blue Star Family members.

Your ticket costs are considered a donation to attend this event and are non-refundable.

Looking to volunteer to help make this event even more fabulous, go here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040948a5ac2aa2f85-shark1#/ Volunteer ages 13 and up.

For questions, please email Jayne at JAsh@marylandnature.org

Sharkfest promotion