The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and the Schooner Festival Committee are proud to announce that the 28th Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival will take place Labor Day Weekend in Gloucester Harbor from August 31 to September 2.

The weekend festival highlights include Maritime Gloucester’s annual Heritage Day, the Parade of Lights and fireworks on Saturday, September 1, followed by the Parade of Sail and the Mayor’s Race for the Esperanto Cup on Sunday, September 2.

Participating schooners include The Adventure, Adventurer, American Eagle, Ardelle, Bald Eagle, Brilliant, Estrela, Fame, Green Dragon, Irena, Lewis H. Story, Liberty Clipper, Roseway, Spirit of Massachusetts, Sugar Babe, Summer Wind, Thomas E. Lannon, Tyrone and more to come! Select schooners will be open for tours throughout the weekend.

In addition to the many beautiful medium and large schooners that will grace the waters of Cape Ann, will be a visit from the HMS Bounty from East Setauket, New York. The 180-foot long replica vessel was a floating movie set for the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty and also appeared in the Johnny Depp film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Throughout the weekend, raffle tickets will be on sale to benefit the 2012 Gloucester Schooner Festival and the 2012 Summer Sailing Scholarships that fund the Gloucester High School Sailing Team and Gloucester’s Project Adventure.

For more information on the entire weekend go to www.capeannvacations.com/schooner or contact Tim Burton at tim@capeannchamber.com or call 978-283-1601.