Visit the historic port of Chestertown, Maryland this weekend to sail on the schooner SULTANA during the “Chestertown Tea Party Festival.” This annual event commemorates Chestertown’s protest of British Tea Taxes in 1774. As local legend has it, citizens of this colonial port boarded the Brigantine Geddes and dumped its cargo into the Chester River. During the festival the schooner SULTANA will be in port for a host of public sails. Tickets are still available for sails on both Saturday and Sunday of the weekend with each outing capturing a unique facet of the festival.
SULTANA’s two-hour public sails are a great way to sail the Chester River onboard a traditional schooner. Passengers are encouraged to help raise the sails, steer using SULTANA’s seven-foot long tiller, and explore the authentically reproduced crew’s quarters below-decks.
Beginning on Saturday, the schooner will depart from the town dock at 10:00am, returning to port at the perfect time for passengers to get up close and personal for the popular reenactment of the storming of the Geddes and the tossing of the tea into the river. Saturday afternoon’s sail at 4:30 offers festivalgoers a great end to a full day, returning to the dock to a quiet and relaxed Chestertown.
On Sunday, the Festival is reinvented with the popular Tea Party Raft Race and vendors in Wilmer Park. Schooner SULTANA will sail at 11:00am and 2:00pm, with the afternoon sail offering a unique view of the hilarity of the raft race.
Advance reservations are recommended for all sails and can be completed online or by contacting the Sultana Education Foundation office at 410-778-5954. Online registration is available until Midnight of the preceding day of the program. If available, tickets may be purchased at the dock before the sail. For more information or reservations, please visit www.sultanaeducation.org.
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