Bristol Harbour Festival 2003: Tall ships and water
BBC News ~ 31st July 2003
Spectacular tall ships, flotillas and fireworks, live music, markets and tonnes of street entertainment are all lined up for this year's SWEB Harbour Festival.
Many people are looking forward to the gathering of five tall ships in the city docks - the largest gathering since the International Festival of the Sea in 1996.
Three tall ships will be sailing into the Bristol Harbour on Friday 1st August to take part in the weekend's SWEB Energy Bristol Harbour Festival.
The tall ship Gallant will be making her first ever visit to the city and will be joined by La Recouvrance and The Matthew to sail into the harbour on Friday evening.
Rush hour commuters will get a chance to see the flotilla of ships as they pass through Hotwells into the heart of the city docks.
Free tours
They will moor alongside the Industrial Museum and join the Kathleen & May, the West country's last three-masted tall ship and historic Bristol trading vessel enjoying her first return to the city since she regularly brought cargo into the harbour more than 50 years ago.
The Earl of Pembroke will be sailing into the harbour later in the evening (approx 2130 BST, tide and weather-dependent).
The five tall ships Kathleen & May, Gallant, La Recouvrance, Earl of Pembroke and The Matthew are one of the main attractions at this year's Harbour Festival.
People can board and tour all five ships for free and view staged canon firing displays.
The tall ships will be open to the public between 11am and 5.30pm on Saturday 2nd August and between 11am and 2.30pm on Sunday 3rd August.
Kathleen & May, Gallant and The Matthew will be moored alongside the Industrial Museum, La Recouvrance by the Arnolfini and the Earl of Pembroke by the Amphitheatre.