Festival of Sail tall ships sail thru Labor Day

Ahoy! Is that a Tall Ship Parade on San Diego Bay? All weekend, ending on Labor Day! All hands on deck for this event.

Nearly two dozen of the tall ships will be involved in this year’s Festival of Sail. The event continues to be the largest tall ship sailing exhibition anywhere on the Pacific Coast of the U.S., once again organized by the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The fun will be afloat the entire Labor Day weekend.

On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and onto Monday, festival attendees can enjoy visiting each of the ships in the parade. There will also be numerous arts and crafts booths, face painting, a beer garden, varied foods for sale, pirates to pose in your selfies, naval re-enactments, demonstrations by Aquatic Aviation and a petting zoo.

Among the tall-masted ‘jammers expected at the 2014 edition of the Festival of Sail are: the America, 139 feet of yachting royalty; the Californian, in all its 145 feet of splendor; naturally, the Star of India, synonymous with San Diego historic sailing; American Pride; Bill of Rights; Curlew; Exy Johnson; Irving Johnson; Jada; Patricia Belle; Pilgrim; Spirit of Dana Point and Tole Mour.

Each of the craft will be anchored at the Northern Embarcadero, downtown. They will be open for touring from today on to Labor Day on Monday.

Tickets for the event cost $7 for adults, $5 for children 12 years old and younger (kids under 3 are free), $5 for seniors, and $5 for active members of the armed forces. There are added costs for sailing out on the bay on the tall ships as they conduct faux cannon fights; or for riding on the America’s Cup yachts present. For more info and to purchase tickets, go here. Tickets are also available at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. You can call the museum at 619-234-9153, or email to [email protected].