bivalve — Delaware Bay Days, the free two-day folklife festival celebrating the bay and the bayshore region, returns June 12 & 13 with events here, in neighboring Port Norris and Mauricetown with a schedule featuring new activities as well as old favorites.

Like last year, Saturday's activities are in Bivalve while Sunday’s will be held at Lake Audrey in Mauricetown. Festival hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

Saturday’s activities begin with an old-fashioned street parade from Port Norris to Bivalve where:

New events in Bivalve will include hourly old-fashioned field games where kids can compete in sack races, toss games, tug-o-war, and more. A dress-up area near the Schooner Playground and a puppet theater offer opportunities for creative role playing; and strolling pirates, stilt-walkers, puppeteers, and hug-a-bear will join in the fun. Kids can also compete in the Bivalve Blue Crab Races, play mini-golf, get creative in the crafts tent, build and float a boat, and make their own puppets.

The Food Court area will offer Jersey Fresh seafood, regional specialties and festival favorites. From a table under the Big Top festivalgoers can partake of high energy entertainment all day from the Brown Street Chowder Society, the Philadelphia Brigade Band, Home Cookin’, Castlerock, the finalists in the Bayshore's Got Talent competition, and the Whittington Family Singers. There will also be cooking demonstrations, craft demonstrations, historical exhibits, and vendors and educational exhibits of all kinds.

Along the riverfront, attendees can relax and sample some New Jersey wines and beers; enjoy a platter from the Raw Bar; listen to performances by Jim Albertson, Steve Byrne, Ben Curtis, The Troubadour K.P., and The Aquanauts; learn to clean and cook a fish, enter the crab picking contest, or step aboard New Jersey’s official tall ship, the Meerwald, for a cruise on the Maurice River.

A shuttleride to East Point Lighthouse will en­able you to Paint-A-Landscape, enjoy a guided wetland walk, view the photography contest entries, enjoy readings by the poetry contestants or learn about local traditions and folkways from those who lived them. In the boatbuilding area, a group will build a 6-Hour Canoe during the course of the day—and you can even buy a raffle ticket if you'd like to win the finished boat.

Back in Bivalve, the N.J. Championship Oyster Shucking Contest will get under way with folks cheering on amateur and professional shuckers.

Sunday at Lake Audrey (look for entrance signs on Mauricetown Bypass between Highland Street and Buckshutem Road) will focus on watercraft and wildlife, and there will be kayaks, canoes, skiffs and sailboats that visitors can examine or take for a spin on the lake. There will also be retriever dog demonstrations; boatbuilding and decoy displays; archery and BB shooting ranges; nature walks; demonstrations; hands-on crafts; and a 'paint-a-landscape' area where artists of all skill levels can express themselves. Kite fliers are invited to bring their own kites or try their hand at building one from scratch.

Details: (856) 785-2060 or ajmeerwald.org