Kayakers and paddleboarders dressed as Edgar Allan Poe will take to Baltimore Harbor on Saturday, October 10, gathering at 4 p.m. in the water in front of Pitango Bakery + Cafe in Fells Point before launching a themed paddle across the harbor. The event, dubbed Edgar Allan Row, is free and open to anyone with a canoe, kayak, rowboat or stand-up paddleboard, and organizers are encouraging participants to show up in costumes depicting the famed writer.
The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore's Healthy Harbor Initiative announced it will host the inaugural Edgar Allan Row, according to WMAR 2 News Baltimore. Paddlers can launch from anywhere along the Baltimore Blueway, the city's network of water trails, and those without their own equipment can rent kayaks or paddleboards from several locations along the route. Adam Lindquist, vice president of Waterfront Partnership, said only in Baltimore can you combine Edgar Allan Poe with a paddle around the harbor.
Event organizers hope to set a record for the largest group of Poe-inspired paddlers assembled on the water for a group photo, and Lindquist said he hopes to see as many Poes as possible at the event. Paddlers will make their way to the Fells Point waterfront as part of a themed journey through the harbor that will include readings of Poe's works along the way.
From Fells Point to the Trash Wheel
The paddle will end near Mr. Trash Wheel in Baltimore Harbor, where organizers will conclude the event with a reading of The Raven, one of Poe's best-known poems. The googly-eyed trash interceptor, invented by marine educator John Kellett and installed in May 2014 at the mouth of the Jones Falls, has become an unlikely harbor celebrity in its own right. Along with three replica interceptors, it has removed more than 3,680 tons of debris from Baltimore's waterways, according to The Baltimore Sun.
The wheel even holds a Guinness World Record for the “Most Floating Debris Removed by a Trash Receptor in One Month,” after extracting 63.3 U.S. tons of waste in April 2017, as reported by CBS News Baltimore. That record-setting reputation makes it a fitting finish line for a paddle built around a writer known for the macabre.
How to Rent a Kayak Without Owning One
Paddlers who show up without a boat are not out of luck. The Waterfront Partnership has installed self-service Rent.Fun kayak rental kiosks at Rash Field Park in the Inner Harbor and Bond Street Wharf in Fells Point, part of the Baltimore Blueway network. The automated kiosks, operated through a mobile app, include paddles and life vests, making it possible for spectators to join the paddle on a whim.
Those launch points are pieces of a larger municipal push. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the Waterfront Partnership unveiled the Baltimore Blueway Water Trail Master Plan in August 2023, creating a network of eight curated water trails and 20 public access points across more than 20 miles of urban shoreline, according to Chesapeake Bay Magazine. The network also connects to national historic water routes, including the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, per the National Park Service.
A Harbor Once Off-Limits to Paddlers
None of this would be possible without a decade-plus of environmental cleanup work. The Waterfront Partnership's Healthy Harbor Initiative, launched in 2010 to restore the harbor's ecosystem, reached a milestone in June 2024 when it hosted Harbor Splash, the city's first public harbor swim in over 40 years, following more than $1 billion in city sewer infrastructure upgrades that reduced sanitary sewer overflows by over 90%, per the same organization's blog.
Safety rules still apply for events like Edgar Allan Row. Recreational water activities in Baltimore Harbor should strictly be avoided within 48 hours of heavy rainfall due to elevated levels of polluted urban stormwater runoff, according to protocols set by the Healthy Harbor Initiative and reported by The Baltimore Sun. The partnership monitors water quality five days a week to evaluate whether conditions are safe for scheduled gatherings.
Poe's Deep Roots in Baltimore
Hosting a costumed paddle in October is no accident. Poe died mysteriously in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, an anniversary the city marks annually through Poe Baltimore's International Edgar Allan Poe Festival, scheduled for October 2–4 this year, according to Visit Baltimore. Poe lived in the city during the 1830s, where he published his first story contest win.
The author's legacy shows up elsewhere in Baltimore's neighborhoods, too. Hoodline previously spotlighted a Canton corner pub, the Poe-themed Annabel Lee Tavern, named for the author's final complete poem. It joins sites like the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum as part of the city's literary tourism scene, alongside Poe-themed attractions such as a mystery escape room referenced in earlier Hoodline coverage.
