2023 marks the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, an event that forever changed the course of American history. An important chapter of the Boston Tea Party story was written in New Bedford, MA. The ship Dartmouth was built in Bedford Village (now New Bedford) in 1767 as a cargo carrying workhorse for the whaling industry. This ship would be the first to arrive in Boston’s harbor carrying the cursed East India Company tea and it’s arrival would ignite a crisis in Boston.

Join museum staff and Evan O’Brien, Creative Manager of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum for a discussion on New Bedford’s connection to the Boston Tea Party and a special reenactment and theatrical performance featuring historical interpreters from the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

Audience members will participate in a dramatic Meeting of the Body of the People (in the Cook Memorial Theater), then follow the fife and drum players to the Bourne Building gallery to experience a recreation of the Destruction of the Tea onboard the Lagoda. A cocktail reception – complete with tea-infused beverages – will follow.