MISSION STATEMENT (Adopted in 2021)
Waterfowl Festival, Inc. is dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of Chesapeake waterfowl and wildlife conservation; we promote community, education and awareness by celebrating Eastern Shore heritage, sporting traditions, and artistic expression.
Link to full economic impact study
The 54th Annual Waterfowl Festival was held in Easton, Maryland, November 14–16, 2025, with a premiere night on November 13. The festival welcomed 32,400 attendees, nearly two-thirds of whom traveled from outside Talbot County, including more than 25% from out of state. Non-resident visitors typically stayed multiple days, averaging 2.56 days per trip.
Visitor satisfaction was exceptionally strong, with over 82% rating the festival as “excellent” or “good,” and nearly 87% indicating they were likely or very likely to recommend the event.
The festival generated significant economic benefits. Non-resident visitors spent an average of $446 per trip, primarily driven by the festival itself. Lodging expenditures within Talbot County totaled approximately $993,000, while visitor spending on shopping ($1.95M) and food and beverage ($1.66M) exceeded lodging impacts.
Overall, the 2025 Waterfowl Festival generated an estimated $5.49M–$6.19M in economic impact within Talbot County and $8.57M–$9.67M statewide, producing substantial local and state tax revenues.
32,400 total attendees
62% traveled from outside Talbot County
25%+ of visitors came from out of state
63% of non-residents stayed overnight (2.56-day average stay)
82% rated the festival “excellent” or “good”
87% likely or very likely to recommend
$446 average spending per non-resident visitor
$993K in lodging expenditures within Talbot County
$1.95M in shopping and $1.66M in food & beverage spending
Over six million dollar total economic impact in Talbot County
An estimated nine million dollar economic impact statewide
Around 1970, a group of Eastern Shore sportsmen and women conceived an event that would ultimately grow into a regional tradition spanning generations – the Waterfowl Festival. Relatively isolated for centuries, the Eastern Shore opened to the rest of the state with the construction of the first Chesapeake Bay Bridge in 1952. Development quickly followed as people fell in love with the area. Concerned by the rapid growth, the festival founders, including Harry Walsh, Bill Perry, and Susie Carpenter, envisioned an event that would share with visitors the unique Eastern Shore heritage that they treasured, in the hopes of educating others how to live and work here while preserving its open spaces. Their secondary objective was to raise funds to protect the wildlife and habitat that were integral to the area’s way of life.
Enlisting numerous local individuals and organizations in their plans, they staged the first Waterfowl Festival in November, 1971, timing it to coincide with the opening of goose hunting season. Those early expectations were that the event would “grow into something extraordinary” and indeed it has. The festival grew to inspire other events across the nation, creating a movement that has sustained growth in the conservation space for decades.The Waterfowl Festival has grown from three small exhibits in downtown Easton to more than a dozen venues throughout the town, with an annual economic impact to the area of over 3 million. More than six million dollars have been raised for education and conservation and awarded to over fifty organizations, including an endowed scholarship for our student volunteers that has awarded over $200,000 to deserving high school and college students.