It’s never too early to start planning for City of Water Day! This year, mark your calendars to celebrate the biggest harbor festival of the metropolitan region on Saturday, July 16, on Governors Island, New York; at Maxwell Place Park, Hoboken, New Jersey; and at dozens of In Your Neighborhood locations around New York Harbor.

Bring your friends and family, and enjoy free boat tours on ferries, schooners, fireboats, tall ships, and tugboats; free fishing, rowing and kayaking lessons and demonstrations; and free fun and educational activities at the Waterfront Activity Fair and the Disney Children’s Activity Fair.

The Waterfront Alliance has a brand new City of Water Day website, launched just days ago, to help you get ready for the big day. You can sign up now to volunteer, host an activity at the Waterfront Activity Fair or Children’s Activity Fair, or host an In Your Neighborhood event at your local stretch of waterfront. Various sponsorships are available for those organizations or corporations who would like to support this unique day.

Don’t forget about the one and only Con Edison Cardboard Kayak Race! This summer we’ll see a couple dozen teams meet on a grassy hill to design and build boats from nothing more than cardboard and duct tape, and then compete against each other as a encouraging crowd chuckles and cheers. Will Stevens Institute of Technology win for the fourth year in a row?

Open registration for the Con Edison Cardboard Kayak Race will be available later this spring, as will sign-ups for City of Water Day free boat tours. Look for announcements in WaterWire and follow the #CityofWaterDay hashtag on Twitter!