Tall Ships

Jessica and I have had a bit to do with the Port of Blyth and Northumberland Council recently. Lest you thought South East Northumberland was all about redundant coal mines read on. This one festival reveals the real determination and dynamism of the people leading regeneration in the area. If you can find time for a trip to this neck of the woods its also worth visiting the Fish Quay in North Shields to see some really imaginative regeneration in action growing out of a former fishing heritage.

This article tells us: Northumberland’s biggest ever free event – The North Sea Tall Ships Regatta – is here. A fleet of magnificent Tall Ships is sailing into Blyth for a fantastic four-day festival from Friday to Monday. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected over the weekend. They will be able to enjoy one-and-a-half miles of fabulous entertainment, including street theatre, fireworks, fairground rides and live music, and will have the chance to climb on board some of the most spectacular Tall Ships in the world and meet the crews.

The spectacular fireworks display on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings will be part of an amazing nightly entertainment show, choreographed around a specially-commissioned 20-minute music and visual performance. The climax is on Monday with the Parade of Sail, when the Tall Ships fleet, followed by a flotilla of craft, sets off in full sail along the coast before leaving for a 500-nautical-mile journey to Gothenburg, Sweden. Northumberland County Council, in partnership with the Port of Blyth and Sail Training International, is hosting the prestigious event – the UK’s only Regatta in 2016. Fergusons of Blyth, one of the UK’s leading privately-owned haulage companies and the biggest in the North East, is the principal sponsor for the event in celebration of its 90th anniversary.