NEW YORK, July 13 (Xinhua) -- People of all walks of life celebrated the annual city of water day festival in New York on Saturday with harbor tours, rowing and kayaking, races and children's activities.

From Rockaway Beach Boulevard at Jamaica Bay to Muscota Marsh Dock in Manhattan, from New Dorp Beach on Staten Island to SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx, waterfront communities across the metropolitan area hosted events in celebration of the region's 1,600 miles of coastline.

One activity highlighted the Con Edison cardboard kayak race. In two short hours, 15 teams, from high school students to professional engineers, using nothing more than cardboard and tape, built seaworthy vessels and then raced them in the East River.

There were also free PortNYC boat tours on all kinds of vessels, from tall ships to tugboats, offered from homeport docks throughout the city by individual boat tour operators, with additional sponsorship from the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Now in its 12th year, the festival was organized by the Waterfront Alliance in partnership with the South Street Seaport Museum and the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program to get people to, on, and in the water.

Activities such as free kayaking and boat tours, coastal cleanups, fishing, science experiments, music, and crafts were introduced to promote the shared goal of a climate-resilient New York Harbor.