24th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon

Join us for the 24th annual read-a-thon of America’s most iconic novel, “Moby-Dick.” An experience you don’t want to miss, you’ll relive the famous, action-packed narrative and be transported back in time on the search for the elusive white whale. 

The Moby-Dick Marathon draws readers and enthusiasts from around the globe to the Museum’s campus and to the livestream reading online. Obsessive literary aficionados, local school children, and everyone in between travel back in time to accompany narrator, Ishmael, on the epic whaling journey and hunt for the elusive white whale.

The Whaling Museum has marked the anniversary of Melville’s 1841 departure from the Port of New Bedford and Fairhaven aboard the whaleship, ACUSHNET, with this mid-winter tradition since 1995. Melville would later pen “Moby-Dick,” publishing the famous novel in 1851. Moby-Dick Marathon weekend features the main 25-hour read-a-thon as well as two mini-marathons: a Portuguese-language reading of Tiago Patricio’s abridged “Moby-Dick;” and a children’s version by Classic Starts.

Save the date: Reader Sign-up begins November 8, 2019.