The big national party to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 will take many forms but the many tall ship’s parades promises to be some of the highlights. In fact the party has already begun with a tall ships event in New Orland on May 27 to June 1.
Over the next six weeks, the hips will visit Virginia, Maryland New York City and Boston. While each venue will be spectacular, the main event will be in New York City on July 3 to 8. All of the tall ships will be there for the parade up the harbor past the Stat6ue of Liberty as well as a large fleet of Navy and Coast Guard vessels.
New York will also have an aerial show put on by the service air teams and a huge fireworks display on the night of July 4th. Watching the tall ships and fireworks from our own boats is possible and the 250th tall shops organizers have set up a website where you can register your boat and discover where you will be allowed to anchor or moor. And, each state has a website with location specific information.
In New York, there will be tall ships from 32 nations that will be crewed by 15,000 men and women, mostly as members of national navies represented. The ships will be open for visitors, and you can expect long lines to board.
The US Navy will host an international naval review at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the East River. Gray ships from our ally countries around the world will be there and will be open for visitors. This will be a chance to get aboard an aircraft carries or a modern frigate.
During each state visit, there will be shore side festivities and the cadets ffrom all of the ships will parade through the cities. {Plus, there will be fireworks on two of the nights. These are going to be real parties.
The event is being run by Sail 4th 250 and their website has all relevant information. In May, it was announced that Waterway Guide had been named the event’s official guidebook and their navigational app AquaMap the official charting tool.
The AquaMap app will have all information for each of the tall ship venues, parade and anchorage information and thumbnail descriptions of all the ships. You can get all of tis right on your phone. The app will also have real-time updates on weather and any changes to the official schedule.
The tall ships event in Boston on July 11 to 16 will be special in no small part because the American Revolution started there in 1775 and because the US Navy’s great sailing warship the USS Constitution, which moored right below Bunker Hill, will be part of the parade.
For more information on each of the Tall ships events click on thel inks below.
New Orleans: May 27 – June 1. https://www.sail250neworleans.com/
Virginia: June 16 – 23. https://sail250virginia.com/Schedule-of-Events
Maryland: June 23 – July 1 https://www.sail250md.org/schedule-of-events
New York City: July 3 – 8 https://sail4th.org/schedule
Boston: July 11 – 16 https://www.sailboston.com/events/
To Get the Waterway Guides AquaMap app, click here.
