27th Annual GLOUCESTER SCHOONER FESTIVAL
Labor Day Weekend
The Gloucester Schooner Festival will take place Labor Day weekend, September 2nd through the 4th, 2011. It’s Gloucester’s major marine event, with participating vessels coming from ports along the Eastern Seaboard. There will be both large and small vessels’ranging from 19 feet to over 100 feet in length. You will see new boats and old boats, from newly built to over 100 years old! Schooners include Gloucester’s Thomas E. Lannon and American Eagle from Rockland, Maine, and many more. Salem’s tallship Friendship will also join in the festivities.
The Mayor’s Race is the major event of every Schooner Festival and will take place this year on Sunday, September 4th, with fifteen schooners expected to compete for the Esperanto Cup, the Cameron Cup, and the Ramsey Plate. Racing starts on Saturday afternoon with seven classes of traditional small craft from 19 to 45 feet long.
An obvious choice for boat lovers, the Schooner Festival also offers plenty of shore side events. On Saturday, these include Gloucester Maritime Heritage Day, walking tours of Gloucester’s harbor front (hosted by The Schooner Adventure), the lighted boat parade, and a gala fireworks display over Gloucester Harbor. Sunday morning, a grand Parade of Sail passes the Boulevard promenade (Stacy Boulevard, Route 127) as the schooners head out to sea for the Mayor’s Race. In addition, Festival-goers won’t want to miss Gloucester’s many attractions, including art exhibits, beaches, fishing, museums, dining, historical sites, whale watching, and more!
The Gloucester Schooner Festival is made possible with the generous support of our sponsors: TD Bank, Market Basket, and the Schooner Thomas E. Lannon. The Festival is planned and organized by the Gloucester Schooner Festival Committee, composed of representatives of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, the City of Gloucester, the U.S. Coast Guard, the business community, and private citizens.
A full schedule of events is available online at www.capeannvacations.com/schooner. High resolution media images are available on-line for download at: www.capeannvacations.com/schooner/mediaimages.