Gloucester Tall Ships festival returns for May Bank Holiday

Gloucester's popular maritime event Tall Ships will return this year with ships that featured in Hollywood films Napoleon and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The event, which has not been held since 2022, will take place over the late May Bank Holiday Weekend.

It will feature a "reimagined" line up with live music and entertainment.

Robin Kemp, Creative Director of Tall Ships, said the music and performance line up will be the festival's "biggest and best yet".

The event sees tens of thousands of people visit Gloucester's historic docks to see ships that travel across the world.

Visiting ships for this year will include the Phoenix, which featured in Ridley Scott's blockbuster film Napoleon.

Another ship which will visit during the festival is the TS Irene, built in Bridgwater, Somerset in 1907.

The ship was a merchant vessel for more than 50 years and also appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Among the confirmed the other tall ships are the Grayhound which will be returning from the Caribbean with cargo, and Spirit of Falmouth, which will be sailed to Gloucester by retired Armed Forces veterans.

The festival will take place between 25 May and 27 May, and tickets go on sale from 10am on 25 January.

Mr Kemp said: "The docks have such a rich and extraordinary history that when we started to plan the Festival this year, it was obvious we needed to celebrate the fusion of ideas and cultures who have come through this glorious location over the last 200 years."

The festival has been curated by a new creative team from Gloucester City Council and Gloucester Business Improvement District (BID).

Organisers say it will take audiences back into the 200 years of history of Gloucester Docks, and also include a daily ceilidh with an hour of mass dancing and singing.

Tickets range from £8 to £19, and children under five can attend for free.

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