As an VENUE: Host an event…
Hosting your event at the New England Aquarium makes your wedding, corporate or private gathering special in more ways than one. You will be supporting our animals, exhibits, and our efforts to protect the blue planet. The Aquarium is committed to furthering good environmental practices in our food services operations. Whether you are hosting a private dinner for 30 or a corporate event for 2,000, the New England Aquarium is the perfect location. Rent the entire Aquarium or just one private room and provide your guests with an extraordinary evening full of wonder. Seven distinctive rental spaces are offered:
- Main Exhibit Gallery: Experience the only event space in Boston where you can dine alongside more than 80 penguins. Our one-of-a-kind, 200,000-gallon Giant Ocean Tank will be the centerpiece of your event.
- Capacity: Seated Dinner – 375, Cocktail Reception – 800, Strolling Dinner – 700 (300, seating for everyone)
- West Wing Gallery: This two-level event venue featuring the largest shark and ray touch tank on the East Coast is ideal for smaller cocktail receptions and dinners.
- Capacity: Seated Dinner – 75, Cocktail Reception – 100, Strolling Dinner – 100 (50, seating for everyone)
- Harbor View Cafe’: The ocean-blue tile and natural wood cathedral ceilings make the Harbor View Café the perfect setting for any occasion. The floor-to-ceiling windows offer spectacular views of Boston’s skyline and the Boston waterfront.
- Capacity: Seated Dinner – 100, Cocktail Reception – 100, Strolling Dinner – 80 (70, seating for everyone) Please note: a dance floor in this space alters the capacity. Please inquire.
- Simons Theatre: Featuring state-of-the-art, audio-visual capabilities in a spacious auditorium, the Simons Theatre is ideal for corporate meetings, product launches, presentations, and receptions.
- Capacity: Seated Dinner – 120, Cocktail Reception – 150, Theatre – 392, Strolling Dinner – 130 (100, seating for everyone)
- The Reef Tent: The Aquarium’s seasonal harborside restaurant is now available for corporate and private events. It’s the perfect setting for a summer company gathering, anniversary or birthday party, bridal or baby shower.
- Capacity: Seated Dinner – 95, Cocktail Reception – 110, Strolling Dinner – 80 (50, seating for everyone)
- Entire Aquarium: The Aquarium is able to accommodate events during the warmer months by adding additional tenting on our front plaza and south terrace. Hosting your event with us helps support the Aquarium’s nonprofit mission and gives your guests the opportunity to privately view the Aquarium.
- Capacity: Seated Dinner – 1,399, Cocktail Reception – 2,030, Strolling Dinner – 1,700 (1,000, seating for everyone)
Support New England Aquarium …by simply booking your next special occasion here:
https://www.neaq.org/visit/host-an-event/
As a SHOP: Discover unique gifts…
In our Gift Shop, just off the Aquarium lobby, we offer a wide assortment of fun and educational products, such as books * clothes * toys, and * plush animals. In addition, gift cards are available and are good toward Aquarium and Simons Theatre admission, whale watches, and meals in the Aquarium’s Harbor View Café. We also offer special gift shop packs for school field trips and other group visits. Aquarium gift cards are also available to purchase online.
Support New England Aquarium …by simply purchasing your next specialty merchandise here:
https://www.neaq.org/visit/dining-shopping/
As an EATERY: Food for thought…
We have partnered with Patina Restaurant Group for all our food service offerings. Patina is dedicated to providing guests with the very finest quality cuisine, exceptional service, and genuine hospitality at extraordinary landmark locations and award-winning restaurants around the country.
The Harbor View Café: Harbor View Café features features: * sandwiches * pizza * grilled items * soups * salads, and * snacks. With a casual counter-service setting and floor-to-ceiling windows offering spectacular views of Boston Harbor, the Harbor View Café is an easy option for guests looking for a quick bite to eat. The Café is on Level 2 of the Aquarium and is wheelchair and stroller accessible by elevator.
Central Snack Bar: Central Snack Bar, located on Central Wharf Plaza in front of the Aquarium, offers a variety of: * salads * sandwiches * hot dogs * snacks, and * beverages.
Support New England Aquarium …by simply dining here:
Be a DONOR: Show that you care…
Membership:
Thank you for your interest in Membership. Our members are essential to everything we do—from supporting our core mission, to sharing Aquarium adventures with family and friends, to providing valuable feedback that helps us improve our efforts. The Aquarium and you, protecting the blue planet together. Levels include: * STANDARD 2 * PREMIUM 2 * STANDARD 4 * PREMIUM 4 * STANDARD 6 * PREMIUM 6 * STANDARD 8, and * PREMIUM 8. Add * Dive Club! Aquarium members enjoy the exclusive opportunity to join the New England Aquarium Dive Club—one of the world’s oldest, largest, and most active dive clubs. One enrollment in addition to your Aquarium membership purchase covers your whole household for your membership year. Gift memberships are welcomed.
Donations:
- Annual Giving: Help protect the blue planet by making a gift to the New England Aquarium Annual Fund. Make a difference today.Generations of New Englanders have grown up loving the New England Aquarium. Today, we continue to improve this renowned destination with new exhibits and programs that spark curiosity about our oceans and the creatures that inhabit them. Our nationally recognized marine research and conservation programs inform and support efforts to protect ocean life today and for future generations. As a non-profit organization, the New England Aquarium relies on the generosity of friends and supporters like you to advance our mission of protecting the blue planet. Together we can inspire stewardship and action to ensure vital and vibrant oceans.
- Donations at specified levels are designated and you may customize your gifts. Recurring gifts are encouraged. Gift, Memorial, and Tribute Gifts are welcomed.
- Planned Giving: If you plan to create or update a will, trust, or other estate plan, we hope you will consider including a gift for the New England Aquarium as part of your plans. Bequests are simple, revocable gifts that help you live your values today, and may enable you to reduce or avoid estate taxes, and meet other personal and financial goals. Each year, the Aquarium is honored to receive bequests from forward-looking supporters, and each of these gifts is a unique legacy. Your bequest can support the Aquarium’s mission and help to inspire awe, curiosity, understanding, caring and action for our blue planet for years to come.
- The Legacy Society honors individuals who have created a gift for the Aquarium in their plans. If you have included the Aquarium in your will or estate plans, we hope you will notify is so that we can convey our gratitude. Thank you for considering a bequest to the New England Aquarium in your plans. We are grateful for your support.
- Unrestricted Bequests are especially helpful to the Aquarium because they may be applied to the highest priority need at the time they are received, and enable the Aquarium to plan confidently for the future, including our on-going operating and programming costs, as well as unforeseen needs and opportunities. Your bequest may be expressed as a specific sum of money, a specific percentage of your estate, or a specific item or asset.
- Designated (Restricted) Bequest – A gift that is restricted for a specific program or purpose or designated for current use, which makes the entire gift available for use immediately.
- Residuary Bequest – A gift of all or a portion of the remainder of the donor’s assets after all other bequests have been made as well as debts and taxes paid.
- Contingent Bequest – A gift in a will made on the condition of a certain event that might or might not happen. A contingent bequest is specific and fails if the condition is not made.
- Make the New England Aquarium a full or partial beneficiary of your IRA, life insurance policy, or other financial account. A gift by beneficiary designation is often as simple as naming the organization on a Beneficiary Designation Form from your plan administrator. The New England Aquarium’s tax ID # is 04-2297514.
- Include the Aquarium as a beneficiary of your trust. Many estate plans include a trust, such as a revocable family trust, or charitable remainder trust, which may include a gift to the Aquarium.
- Add the Aquarium to your existing plans by codicil. A codicil is a simple instrument that allows you to add the Aquarium to your existing plans. The information above is not intended as legal or financial advice. We encourage you to discuss these giving options with your own attorney and other qualified advisors when determining if a gift by will or estate plan may be right for you.
