Embark on an unforgettable literary voyage at the New Bedford Whaling Museum!
Join us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Moby-Dick Marathon, the Museum’s world-renowned tribute to Herman Melville’s epic tale of obsession, adventure, and the sea. Each January, readers and Melville enthusiasts from around the globe gather in New Bedford—the very port where Melville himself once set sail—to take part in a 25-hour, cover-to-cover reading of Moby-Dick.
This extraordinary event transforms the Museum into a stage for literature, history, and community. Visitors can immerse themselves in Melville-inspired programs, including thought-provoking conversations with scholars, dramatic performances, hands-on activities for all ages, and behind-the-scenes experiences that bring Melville’s world vividly to life.
The Marathon commemorates Melville’s 1841 departure aboard the whaleship Acushnet—the journey that would inspire one of America’s greatest novels. Thirty years on, the celebration continues to grow, uniting generations of readers, performers, and maritime enthusiasts in a shared quest for the elusive white whale.
Join us for the Friday afternoon Moby-Dick (1956) film screening with ability to add on Museum admission.
Planning to attend? Let us know you are coming by registering ahead. Admission is free on Saturday & Sunday.
Afterwards, tell us about your Moby-Dick Marathon experience.
Shop our Moby-Dick Marathon collection.
Begin the Moby-Dick Marathon weekend in style at the Melville Scholars’ Dinner, an evening of insight, inspiration, and fellowship overlooking New Bedford Harbor.
SOLD OUT!
The Moby-Dick (1956) Film Screening and the Melville Scholars Dinner is the only ticketed portion of the weekend; all other Moby-Dick Marathon activities and Museum admission are free Saturday at 9:00 AM until Sunday at 1:00 PM.
Funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism
Interested in Reading?
All reading slots are currently filled. We encourage you to join us in person during the Moby-Dick Marathon, and sign up for the standby reader list when you arrive, as there are often cancellations, and standby participants will be selected to fill any openings.
Already registered to read? Use the button below to view the Reading Timetable. View the approximate reading order and passages.
Please note that times are estimates and may shift slightly depending on the overall reading pace.
Limited Seating Events The following segments require special entry via random drawing:
Seamen's Bethel (1:30 PM) In-person seating for Father Mapple’s Sermon is limited. While a livestream is available in the Harbor View Gallery. Lottery for seating is now closed; winners will receive notification via email.
Chapter 40 (7:30) The live performance of Chapter 40 by Culture*Park in the Cook Memorial Theater is now a lottery-ticketed event due to high popularity. Lottery for seating is now closed; winners will receive notification via email.
Moby-Dick Marathon Program Schedule
Download the Museum Guide through Bloomberg Connects
to hear a tour by the Melville Scholars.
Herman Melville Sponsors
Captain Ahab Sponsor:
BEETLE CAT®
Funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism. With additional support from Bank Newport, D&D Catering, and Blount Fine Foods.
Please visit our preferred restaurant partner, Servedwell Hospitality, during your visit to New Bedford
Non-Members: $10 for Movie Only | $28 for Admission & Movie
Members: $5 for Movie
Friday, January 2, 2026
Film Screening: 12:30 PM | Run time: 116 minutes
Doors Open: Noon
Location: Cook Memorial Theater
Moby-Dick (1956) – Film Screening
Friday, January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
This program is free to attend, but advance registration is required.
An Unfinished Project: Reflections on the Promises of Revolution at the Nation’s 250th
Thursday, January 22| 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Presentation in the Cook Memorial Theater | Reception in the Jacobs Family Gallery
Join the New Bedford Whaling Museum for a special program marking the opening of Forging Independence | Building a Nation, a new semi-permanent exhibition developed in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. The exhibition explores the diverse regional experiences that shaped the struggle for independence and the new nation that emerged. The evening begins with a 30-minute screening of excerpts from Ken Burns’ The American Revolution that highlight the many individuals whose beliefs, identities, and courage propelled the nation toward independence.
After the screening, a panel discussion will examine how the Revolution reshaped people’s lives across the region, how ideas about nationhood, abolition, citizenship, and racial identity evolved in its aftermath, and how the legacies of these questions are with us in the present. Naomi Slipp will introduce the project and discuss some of the key individuals, including women and people of color, who are highlighted in the exhibition; Lee Blake will consider the roles of free people of color in the fight for Independence, the limitations of citizenship in this period, and the importance of freedom seekers and free Black citizens in the work of abolition; and Donika Kelly will reflect on the poetic potentialities embedded in this country’s beginnings and the meanings of the semi-quincentennial today.
A light reception will follow in the Jacobs Family Gallery, along with an invitation to explore the new exhibition. Copies of The Natural Order of Things will be available for purchase in the Museum Store, with a signing opportunity.
This program is offered in partnership with PBS and is free to the public.
Panelists
Naomi Slipp, Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning, New Bedford Whaling Museum
A museum professional with diverse experience in exhibition curation, academic publishing, higher education, and strategic visioning and implementation, Naomi Slipp is passionate about interdisciplinary storytelling, leveraging collections to connect with diverse audiences in meaningful ways, and inspiring connections between past and present. Slipp holds a PhD from Boston University and MA from the University of Chicago, is trained as an art historian, and has published and presented widely on diverse topics for different audiences. As the Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for Chief Curator and Director of Museum Learning at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Slipp is a member of the senior leadership team, directs all activities related to collections, curatorial, and museum learning for the organization, and has curated several special exhibitions including the recently opened permanent installation Forging Independence | Building a Nation.
Lee Blake, educator, historian, and President of the New Bedford Historical Society
A recipient of the 2019 Governor’s Award in the Humanities from Mass Humanities, Lee Blake has spent much of her life raising awareness about black history, and the important role New Bedford played in the Underground Railroad in the 1800s. As president of the New Bedford Historical Society, oversees Abolition Row Park, a public open-air museum chronicling and celebrating Frederick Douglass and Black history, and the Nathan & Polly Johnson House in New Bedford, MA. Awarded an honorary doctoral degree from UMass Dartmouth in 2023, Blake is also a Trustee of the New Bedford Free Public Library, Vice President of Waterfront Historic League, National Trust for Historic Preservation, President of Spinner Publications, Academic scholar for Sailing to Freedom, Teacher Institute for National Endowment for the Humanities, and cohort member of 10 million names for American Ancestors.
Donika Kelly, celebrated Poet and Author of The Natural Order of Things (2025), Assistant Professor of English at the University of Iowa, and National Book Award nominee
Donika Kelly is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently The Natural Order of Things. Her work has received numerous honors including the Anisfield-Wolf book award in poetry, the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and a Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Kelly’s poetry has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Publishing Triangle Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and longlisted for the National Book Award. A Cave Canem graduate fellow, National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and Pushcart Prize winner, she has also received a Lannan Residency Fellowship, and a summer workshop fellowship from the Fine Arts Work Center. She earned an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in English from Vanderbilt University. Her poems have been published in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. Donika is an associate professor in the English Department at the University of Iowa.
Corporate funding for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by The Better Angels Society and its members Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine with the Crimson Lion Foundation; and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Major funding was also provided by David M. Rubenstein; The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Family Foundation; Lilly Endowment Inc.; and the following Better Angels Society members: Eric and Wendy Schmidt; Stephen A. Schwarzman; and Kenneth C. Griffin with Griffin Catalyst. Additional support for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was provided by: The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling; Park Foundation; and the following Better Angels Society members: Gilchrist and Amy Berg; Perry and Donna Golkin; The Michelson Foundation; Jacqueline B. Mars; Kissick Family Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; John H. N. Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell; John and Catherine Debs; The Fullerton Family Charitable Fund; Philip I. Kent; Gail Elden; Deborah and Jon Dawson; David and Susan Kreisman; The McCloskey Family Charitable Trust; Becky and Jim Morgan; Carol and Ned Spieker; Mark A. Tracy; and Paul and Shelley Whyte. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was made possible, in part, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Educator Open House
Tuesday, February 3 | 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Free admission for educators and guests
Visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum to explore new exhibits and learn about new tours and programs for students.
Hands-on highlights include a sample squid dissection, an interactive topographic sand table, and a STEM Design Challenge about rising sea levels. Check out fun learning spaces like the Kid's Corner and Sailor's Nook.
New exhibits include:
- The City that Lit the World
- Exploring Our Ecosystem: Climate Change, Whales, and Us
- Forging Independence | Building a Nation
- “Look pleasant, please”: Early Portrait Photography in New Bedford
Meet educators, curators, and High School Apprentices to learn about field trips, educational programs, and teacher resources available for you and your students!
Light refreshments will be available in the Jacobs Family Gallery.
Can't make it? Check out the updated Field Trips page.
Contact learning@whalingmuseum.org or (508) 997-0046 x184 for questions about activities.
Admission: $12.50 for Members | $25 for Non-Members
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Film Screening: 6:00PM | Run time: Run Time: 95 minutes, followed by a brief Q&A with Executive Producer Robert Sennott
Doors Open: 5:30 PM
Location: Cook Memorial Theater
76 Days Adrift – Film Screening & Q&A with Executive Producer Robert Sennott
Wednesday, February 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
From Academy Award–winning Executive Producer Ang Lee comes 76 Days Adrift—a gripping, immersive documentary that tells the extraordinary survival story of Steven Callahan, author of the New York Times bestseller Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea.
On the night of February 4, 1982, Callahan’s small vessel collided with a whale in the Atlantic Ocean. With only moments to react, he escaped into a life raft with a basic survival kit—plunging into what would become 76 harrowing days alone at sea. Battling storms, dwindling supplies, and the vast, unforgiving ocean, Callahan was forced to confront both nature’s fury and his own deepest fears.
Directed by Joe Wein with a haunting score by Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), 76 Days Adrift is not only a survival story but also a meditation on human resilience and our profound connection to the sea.
Film Run Time: 95 minutes. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Executive Producer Robert Sennott, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this powerful documentary.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2026 | DOORS AT 5:30 PM, PROGRAM AT 6:00PM
Tickets are $12.50 for Members or $25 for General Public
FIRST FRIDAY | Down to the Sea in Ships
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2026 | DOORS AT 5:30 PM, PROGRAM AT 6:00PM
Experience the film just as audiences did in the silent era—with live music.
Down to the Sea in Ships (1922), directed by Elmer Clifton and filmed in New Bedford, is a full-length silent feature presented in the Harbor View Gallery at the Whaling Museum with a live musical score performed on grand piano by Grammy-nominated concert pianist Dr. Jennifer A. Maxwell.
About the Film
A major hit in its day, Down to the Sea in Ships is both a dramatic whaling story and an extraordinary record of local maritime history. The film includes the only legally filmed whale hunt in cinema history and features semi-documentary footage of whalers at work, shot on historic New Bedford–area locations such as the Quaker Meeting House, Seamen’s Bethel, and the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, now on view at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. Title cards incorporate quotations from Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick and Alexander Starbuck’s History of the American Whale Fishery. Its opening credits praise the courage of cameramen A. G. Penrod and Paul H. Allen, who filmed whaling scenes from small boats at great personal risk. The film is also notable for introducing flapper-era icon Clara Bow in her screen debut.
About the Score
Drawing from archival material associated with the film’s 1922 New Bedford premiere as well as her own original compositions, Maxwell created musical themes for each character and type of action—hero and villain motifs, love themes, whaling passages, and more. She incorporates recognizable vintage tunes of the era, blending them with original music to evoke the period. Every musical cue is precisely timed to the corresponding scene, composed to transition seamlessly between keys, and designed to reinforce the narrative and unify the story in the absence of dialogue. The result is a score that is richly attuned to the film and performed dynamically in real time.
Down to the Sea in Ships is deeply rooted in New England history and offers a family-friendly experience. Enjoy a classic silent film and a live piano concert in one unforgettable evening.
Doors open at 5:30 PM with light bites and a cash bar in the Harbor View Gallery (Upper Level), offering limited cabaret-style seating and additional rows of chairs for film viewing. Remarks and the screening will begin promptly at 6:00 PM, and the event concludes at 8:00 PM.
DR. JENNIFER A. MAXWELL
PIANIST / EDUCATOR / SCHOLAR
American pianist Dr. Jennifer A. Maxwell has earned acclaim for her versatility as a performer, educator, and scholar. A 2016 and 2018 Grammy Award nominee, she has performed thousands of concerts of solo and chamber repertoire across the country, been featured in television and radio interviews, written a film score, and judged competitions.
Maxwell has presented performances at the Providence Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Lyman Allyn Museum, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Nantucket Whaling Museum, Nantucket Atheneum, Narrows Center for the Arts, Thacher Hall, Boston University, Jamestown Piano Association, Rhode Island College, Music in the Loft Series, Steinway of Chicago, Mostly Music Concert Series, CUBE Chicago Contemporary Music Series, Schubertiade Chicago, University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, Music Institute of Chicago, and PianoForte Great Pianists Series, among others; performed concerti with the Southern Illinois Symphony and University of Chicago Symphony; been featured on Live From WFMT Chicago Classical Radio; and served as pianist for the National Association for Music Education convention.
Recent activities include solo recitals of Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, and Adès; an interview/performance on National Public Radio; The Red Violin program with Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius owner Elizabeth Pitcairn; a program of music by women composers; Stravinsky’s virtuosic Petrouchka on the Nantucket Arts Council Celebrity Series with duo partner Dr. Svetlana Belsky; Beethoven in Havana, a new tango by Joachim Horsley adapted as a piano concerto; a popular lecture-recital on the history of the piano and its repertoire; and repeat shows of her archival/original score for the 1922 classic silent film Down to the Sea in Ships. She has also performed on period instruments, presenting an annual fortepiano recital at the historic Whitehall Mansion. Maxwell is featured in Jay Craven’s 2022 film Martin Eden.
Maxwell has been a professor at Roger Williams University and the University of Rhode Island, and she is faculty emerita at Nantucket Music Center. Previously she held positions at the University of Chicago, Louisville Orchestra, Kentucky Center for the Arts, and University of Louisville. Maxwell earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University, where she studied with the legendary Anthony di Bonaventura and was granted a dissertation scholarship to research and write Tracing a Lineage of the Mazurka Genre: Influences of Szymanowski and Chopin on the Mazurkas of Thomas Adès.
Maxwell is an auditor for the Fall River CPA firm Hague, Sahady & Co.
First Fridays is proudly sponsored by:
February 12, 2026 – AHA! Night | 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Free admission
Vestibules: Stories of Water, Memory, and Resilience
An Interactive Eco-Art Storytelling Experience on AHA! Night, February 12, 2026
Co-hosted by the New Bedford Whaling Museum & Vestibules Eco-Art Project
Step into the layered stories of New Bedford’s past, present, and future.
Vestibules: Stories of Water, Memory, and Resilience is an immersive, interactive evening blending live performance, historical interpretation, portraiture, and community storytelling. Moving throughout select galleries of the Museum, participants will encounter costumed historical figures, contemporary artists, and fellow community members as they explore how New Bedford’s maritime, revolutionary, and ecological histories continue to shape our understanding of place, culture, and environmental responsibility today.
Rooted in the city’s 19th-century whaling era—and reaching further back to Indigenous and early colonial histories—this event invites visitors to reflect on how people have understood, depended on, and fought to protect the natural world across generations. Through storytelling, creative expression, and dialogue, Vestibules connects historic voices with present-day conversations about climate resilience, environmental justice, and cultural memory.
The content gathered during the evening—including portraits, oral histories, poetry, and visual responses—will help shape Vestibules, a forthcoming public eco-art installation and community gathering space at Brooklawn Park in New Bedford.
What to Expect
Throughout the evening, guests are free to move through a series of curated “Vestibules”—interactive stations located in Museum galleries and public spaces. Each vestibule offers a unique way to engage with history, ecology, and storytelling.
4:00 PM – Doors Open with Free Museum-wide Admission
Guests are welcomed by costumed historical interpreters and invited into the evening’s narrative.
4:15 PM – Opening Gathering in the Cook Memorial Theater
Welcome remarks and program introduction, followed by a short performance.
4:30–7:00 PM – Vestibule Experiences
Guests explore interactive stations throughout select Museum galleries, engaging in storytelling, performance, portraiture, and dialogue. Vestibules (galleries) include:
- Jacobs Family Gallery (Lower Level): Exploring Our Ecosystem: Climate Change, Whales, and Us
- Conversations and oral history sharing stations about connections to water and the environment (recording optional)
- Live performances and storytelling hosted by environmental artist and activist Tem Blessed
- Photobooth with period and contemporary dress props available
- Wattles Family Gallery (Lower Level): “Look Pleasant, Please”: Early Portrait Photography in New Bedford.
- Meet and greet exhibition curator Marina Dawn Wells, PhD, Assistant Curator of History & Culture
- Portrait photography with Andrew Kepinski
- Braitmayer Family Galleries (Main Level): Forging Independence | Building a Nation
- Join the Write with Community activity (5:00 PM-7:00 PM) on the way into/out of the gallery
7:00–7:45 PM – Closing Circle in the Jacobs Family Gallery (Lower Level)
A celebration and collective reflection on shared histories, hopes for climate resilience, and next steps for the Vestibules project. Lite complimentary refreshments, music, and participatory performances can be expected.
A printed and digital event map will guide visitors to each vestibule.
Historical & Cultural Framework of the Vestibules Eco-Art Project
The Vestibules project centers voices that shaped—and were shaped by—the land and waters of the South Coast, including:
- Wampanoag leaders and community members from the Acushnet and Sconticut Neck region
- Indigenous and immigrant laborers in the whaling and maritime industries
- Abolitionists, inventors, and activists connected to New Bedford’s global influence
- The relationship between naturalist Henry David Thoreau and New Bedford Quaker abolitionist Daniel Ricketson, whose correspondence and visits to Brooklawn (1854–1861) inform the project’s ecological lens
Through these narratives, the overarching Vestibules Eco-Art Project examines how colonization, industrialization, and environmental change transformed both human and natural landscapes—and what these transformations can teach us today.
Why Vestibules Matters
Vestibules is both an event and a process—centering community voices as foundational to public art, environmental education, and historical interpretation. The stories and creative responses gathered will inform a permanent eco-art installation at Brooklawn Park, transforming shared memory into a living, public space for reflection and gathering.
About the Vestibules Eco-Art Project Organizers
Anna Dempsey, Professor & Chair of the Art Department at UMass Dartmouth
Anna studied Environmental Engineering at M.I.T. and earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University, focusing on humanist philosophy and 20th-century American and European culture. She has curated multiple exhibitions on women artists and modern/contemporary American culture, with research published in journals from M.I.T. Press, Columbia University, and others. Anna’s current book project, Entangled Modernisms: American Women Artists, Community, and the Natural World, is based on a National Endowment for the Humanities grant supporting research at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.
Katy Rodden Walker is a multidisciplinary artist and educator. Questioning constructed boundaries, hierarchies, and entrenched systems, her artistic research and creative practice explore the complexities and interconnections between humans, nonhumans, and technology as they relate to the natural world. She has exhibited nationally and is the recipient of several grants from The New Bedford Cultural Council (2023 & 2024), and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Blue Economy Grant (2025). Rodden Walker has an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the College of Art, Media + Design at Northeastern University.
February Vacation: Time Travel Week
Daily Schedule
Storytime in the Kid's Corner: 10:00 am
Make & Take Craft Activities: 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Hands-on History Activities: 1:00-2:30 pm
Storytime in the Sailor's Nook: 3:00 pm
Costume Parade: 3:30 pm
Come as your favorite pirate, mermaid, or historic figure
Afternoon Movies in the Cook Memorial Theater: 4:00 pm
$4.00 members, $8.00 non-members
Monday, February 16, 2026
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (PG-13, 2003)
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken (PG, 2023)
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Luca (PG, 2021)
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Muppet Treasure Island (G, 1996)
Friday, February 20, 2026
The Goonies (PG, 1985)
More fun!
Inflatable Whale: 10:00 am-4:00 pm, Monday (beginning at 2pm), Wednesday and Friday
3D Movies: Wonders of the Arctic
10:30 am; 11:30 am; 12:30 pm; 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm Daily
Sponsored By
February 16-20, 2026 | 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
Travel back in time during February school vacation week! Each day includes themed-activities, crafts, stories, and a special movie.
Enjoy the entire Museum, including the Lagoda whaling ship, the Kid's Corner play space, the Sailor's Nook pretend play area, the interactive sand table, whale skeletons, and more!
Monday, February 16: 250 Years Ago
Explore the Revolutionary War and the exhibit Forging Independence | Building a Nation
Inflatable Whale from 2:00-4:00 pm
Storytime in the Kid's Corner at 10:00 am
Make & Take Craft: Silhouettes from 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Hands-on History Activity: Make Butter from 1:00-2:30 pm
Storytime in the Sailor's Nook at 3:00 pm
Costume Parade at 3:30 pm
Afternoon Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (PG-13, 2003) at 4:00 pm
Tuesday, February 17: Get To Work!
Explore New Bedford's Industrial History and the exhibit Energy and Enterprise
Storytime in the Kid's Corner at 10:00 am
Make & Take Craft: Weaving from 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Hands-on History Activity: Make a Suncatcher from 1:00-2:30 pm
Storytime in the Sailor's Nook at 3:00 pm
Costume Parade at 3:30 pm
Afternoon Movie: Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken (PG, 2023) at 4:00 pm
Wednesday, February 18: Island Adventures
Explore the Cape Verdean Culture and the exhibit Morabeza: Cape Verdean Community in the South Coast
Inflatable Whale from 10:00 am-4:00 pm
Storytime in the Kid's Corner at 10:00 am
Make & Take Craft: Cape Verdean Lace from 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Hands-on History Activity: Make a Community Quilt from 1:00-2:30 pm
Storytime in the Sailor's Nook at 3:00 pm
Costume Parade at 3:30 pm
Afternoon Movie: Luca (PG, 2021) at 4:00 pm
Thursday, February 19: Smile for the Camera
Explore the history of Photography and the exhibit "Look pleasant, please": Early Portrait Photography in New Bedford
Storytime in the Kid's Corner at 10:00 am
Make & Take Craft: Photo Collage from 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Hands-on History Activity: Make a Sunprint from 1:00-2:30 pm
Storytime in the Sailor's Nook at 3:00 pm
Costume Parade at 3:30 pm
Afternoon Movie: Muppet Treasure Island (G, 1996) at 4:00 pm
Friday, February 20: Thar She Blows!
Explore New Bedford's Whaling Industry and the exhibit The City that Lit the World
Inflatable Whale from 10:00 am-4:00 pm
Storytime in the Kid's Corner at 10:00 am
Make & Take Craft: Scrimshaw Scratch from 10:30 am-3:30 pm
Hands-on History Activity: Make a Candle from 1:00-2:30 pm
Storytime in the Sailor's Nook at 3:00 pm
Costume Parade at 3:30 pm
Afternoon Movie: The Goonies (PG, 1985) at 4:00 pm
Want to visit multiple days?
Become a New Bedford Whaling Museum Member for free museum admission and movie discounts.
February Vacation Week Afternoon Movies
Monday, February 16, 2026 | 4:00 pm
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
PG-13, 2 hours 23 minutes
When wily Captain Barbossa steals Jack Sparrow's ship and kidnaps the governor's beautiful daughter, Elizabeth, her childhood friend Will Turner joins forces with Jack to save her and recapture Jack's ship, the Black Pearl.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley
$4.00 members; $8.00 non-members
February Vacation Week Afternoon Movies
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 | 4:00 pm
Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken (2023)
PG, 1 hour 31 minutes
When she inherits a kingdom of mythical sea creatures, an awkward teen must somehow learn to deal with her newfound powers and save the world from evil.
Starring: Lana Condor, Toni Collette, and Jane Fonda
$4.00 members; $8.00 non-members
