Tall Ships, schooners, skipjacks, sharpies, buyboats, sloops, skiffs, draketails and more: that’s what visitors to the Sultana Education Foundation’s Downrigging Weekend Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival can look forward to seeing in Chestertown the weekend of October 31 – November 2. Originally established to mark the end of the schooner SULTANA’s sailing season, Downrigging Weekend has grown to become one of America’s largest annual Tall Ship and wooden boat festivals, drawing thousands of visitors to Chestertown each fall. Downrigging Weekend 2014 is being sponsored by the Chestertown branch of Morgan Stanley and involves more than 25 partnering organizations and co-sponsors.
Unique to Downrigging Weekend is the opportunity to sail on a fleet of assembled Tall Ships and historic watercraft, including the state ship of Delaware, KALMAR NYCKEL, the PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, the state ship of New Jersey, A.J. MEERWALD, the schooner LADY MARYLAND, Chestertown’s own schooner SULTANA, and the skipjacks ELSWORTH and SIGSBEE. Visitors can also walk Chestertown’s waterfront and see dozens of other notable vessels on display, including the recently restored Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s skipjack ROSIE PARKS, the Barnegat cat boat SILENT MAID, the 1903 racing sloop WITCHCRAFT, and more.
If all the activity on the waterfront isn’t enough, Downrigging Weekend also has plenty to offer shore-side, including musical performances by The Ragbirds, The Eastport Oyster Boys, and Chester River Runoff; talks by authors Jeffery Bolster, Steven Ujifusa, Ed Cutts, and Kate Livie; art exhibits by Marc Castelli and the annual RiverArts Studio Tour; model boat building for children, a 5k and half-marathon, commemorations of the 150th anniversary of Maryland’s Emancipation Day, the Chestertown Halloween Parade; and even fireworks over Chestertown’s historic harbor.
For more information, a complete festival schedule, and online reservations visit www.sultanaeducation.org or call 410-778-5954.
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