New Bedford Whaling Museum to Host 30th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon Weekend

The New Bedford Whaling Museum will host its 30th annual Moby-Dick Marathon weekend from Friday, Jan. 2, through Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. Activities during the weekend include the Melville Scholars' Dinner and Lecture on Friday, Jan. 2, in the Harbor View Gallery.

The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 5:15 p.m., followed by remarks from Museum President Amanda McMullen.

At 6 p.m., keynote speaker Joe Roman will present “Whales, Worlds, and the Wild Imagination: Lessons from Melville to Modern Ecology.” Roman is a fellow and writer-in-residence at the University of Vermont's Gund Institute for Environment and author of Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World.

Dinner and conversation will follow a keynote presentation at 6:45 p.m. 

According to a New Bedford Light report, ticket prices are $75 for museum members and $100 for nonmembers. Tickets are available for purchase online.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is at 18 Johnny Cake Hill in New Bedford.