Harkers Island Waterfowl Weekend and Core Sound Decoy Festival 2026: Your Guide

In early December 2015, volunteers at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center borrowed a trolley, gathered a group, and rode around Harkers Island to look at Christmas lights. There weren't many to see. "It was so dark and dreary on Harkers Island," one person told Our State. "All you'd see were some lights here and there. It wasn't a thing like it used to be, nowhere near."

Eleven years later, the museum describes the first weekend of December as "the Island's homecoming weekend." That means the Decoy Festival at the school, craft sales along the road, yard sales, fundraisers, and a Friday night that opens with the Core Sound Chow Down and the island's "Bring Back the Lights" celebration. This year it runs December 4 through 6. Harkers Island didn't stumble into a homecoming. A small group of people rebuilt it after that dark trolley ride, and the weekend still carries their aim of handing the tradition to whoever comes next.

The anchor came before the weekend

After the trolley ride, a small group met at the museum and formed the Bring Back the Lights Committee. Before buying decorations or lining up volunteers, they needed a symbol. Someone floated a dolphin, then the lighthouse, then a Christmas star. Committee member Guthrie, who told Our State the story, suggested an anchor, for the island's fishing heritage and for faith. The vote was unanimous.

Local boat captain Richard Gillikin designed it, and commercial fisherman and marine fabricator Andy Scott built it. After a couple of prototypes, they settled on the Island Anchor, a handcrafted, three-foot anchor made of marine-grade aluminum. Scott made about 10 the first year, and one family bought four of them. Today the museum fills hundreds of orders a year, and Scott still makes every anchor by hand. The museum is the only place that sells them, through its Island Anchor shop.

The anchor took on more weight after Hurricane Florence dropped nearly 30 inches of rain on the island in 2018.

"The principle of an anchor is that it holds. The rougher the weather gets and the harder it gets pulled, the deeper an anchor digs, the harder it holds. It doesn't give up." — Richard Gillikin, to Our State

After Florence, according to Our State, most locals started leaving their anchors up all year and changing the lights with the season. The symbol also spread across the bridge to the rest of Down East and on to Hatteras and Ocracoke. Our State describes the December view from the top of the bridge onto the island. The harbor comes into sight first, lined with Island Anchors dedicated to the commercial fishing industry, with trawlers lit in bright blue. Each anchor on the docks at Harkers Island Boat Harbor is dedicated to a member of the community.

The season has grown structure of its own. The Cab and Barbara Ramsey Christmas Decorating Contest adds some friendly competition, a tree lighting and community choir open the season, and an Anchor Drop on New Year's Eve closes it. The museum hasn't posted the exact format of this year's Bring Back the Lights opening night yet. It says more Waterfowl Weekend details are on the way.

One road, two addresses

The homecoming happens at two places on Island Road. The museum's Waterfowl Weekend is at 1785 Island Road. The Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild's 38th annual Core Sound Decoy Festival is at Harkers Island Elementary School, 1163 Island Road. The museum's description of the weekend counts the stretch between them as part of the event, with craft sales, yard sales, and fundraisers along the way.

Here is the weekend laid out from the schedules posted so far:

The museum's Saturday offers "everything from scallop fritters to sweet puppies," along with artists, carvers, an online auction, and live music. The auction catalog goes online closer to the event. Christmas and quilt raffle tickets are sold at coresound.com/raffles, and the winners are announced Sunday, December 6. The Chow Down page says this year's dinner will feature the museum's new decoy displays, though it doesn't describe them yet. The ticket widget on that page still shows last year's event, so wait for the 2026 menu before planning around a particular dish.

The crowd isn't small. In its 2024 preview, Coastal Review said thousands come to Waterfowl Weekend every year to celebrate the decoy carving, hunting, boatbuilding, commercial fishing, and waterfowl traditions of Down East's 13 unincorporated communities. No 2026 parking plan, shuttle, or festival admission price has been published. Shuttles between the school and the museum ran in some past years, and older admission figures are years out of date. The Guild's number is (252) 838-8818 if you'd rather ask than guess.

Saturday at the school belongs to a shorebird

The Guild picks a featured carver and a featured bird every year. For 2026, the featured carver is Ken Brennan of Straits, North Carolina, and the featured bird is the Long-billed Curlew.

Picking a shorebird says something about this festival. Its competitions aren't limited to ducks. The Guild's 2022 competition booklet lists both an IWCA Style Shorebird Championship and a Gunning Shorebird Decoy category. The difference matters on the judging floor. One class is for display work, and the other is for decoys made to be used. The Guild hasn't said why it chose the curlew this year, so ask Brennan at the show.

Saturday opens at 9 a.m. with carving competition registration at the NC Wildlife Resources Commission Safari Trailer. Judging starts at 10, and retriever demonstrations run at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. If you're splitting the day, those two times line up well with the museum's 2 p.m. auction. Catch the 11 o'clock dogs at the school, then head up Island Road to the tent.

Sunday is set up for the next carvers

Brennan's place in this year's festival ties back to the anchor story. The Guild's 2024 annual program lists him among the carvers who have helped with its youth carving program again and again. That makes him a fitting featured carver for a show that gives its whole second day to young people.

Sunday at the school is Youth Day. The doors open at 10 a.m., and judging and the Safari Trailer start at the same time. The Head Carving Contest and a retriever demonstration both happen at 1 p.m., and the Youth Prize Drawing for ages 6 to 17 follows at 3. At 3:30 come the awards, the raffle drawings for the shotgun, decoy, and print, and the announcement of the 2027 featured carver and bird. If you want next year's bird before anyone else hears it, stay for the end.

Across the island, the museum's Sunday begins with church and breakfast. For guests in town who want to see Cape Lookout, plan it for Saturday or Friday instead. The National Park Service's Harkers Island Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily until December 1. From then through April 1 it's open Monday through Saturday and closed Sundays, so it will be closed on Sunday, December 6.

The run-up starts in November

The museum spreads the season over several weeks, and a few of the dates fall well before the festival:

• Crab Pot Tree Sale, November 5–7. Crab pot trees are 20% off at both museum locations and online.
• Gallery of Trees: Telling Our Story, opening reception November 20. The trees stay up through January 8, 2027, so the Waterfowl Weekend crowd will see the museum in full Core Sound Christmas mode.
• Christmas Market, November 28, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. This one is at the museum's Morehead City store, with artists, crafters, carvers, vendors, and collectors.

The Crab Pot Tree Sale is about a month away, and the Chow Down is about nine weeks off. If you want an anchor glowing on your porch or dock by the night the island turns its lights on, order early. Scott still builds every one himself.

If your relatives are coming home for the first weekend of December and asking where to stay on the island, or if you've been thinking about a place close enough to walk to the school or the harbor, Jo Ann Mangum has lived the Down East holiday season for years and is glad to talk it over. Let's Connect.