Tall Ships Challenge 2012
July 19 to 23 Dozens of sailing ships visit Halifax—the final stop in a race from Savannah, Georgia. While in …
Festival full of ships, food and fireworks
By admin | Jul 25, 2012Tags: festival, fireworks, tall ships
Guest blogger Megan Couture reports on her fun-filled experience at Tall Ships 2012.
This past week brought Tall Ships into our fine harbour, and thus brought our sleepy boardwalk back to life. What set this festival apart from Tall Ships of years gone by were the extras: the anniversary of the War of 1812 (walking tours and re-enactments), the addition of the Taste of Nova Scotia Food Fare, the Arr Fresco Film Festo and several musical events. Oh, and did I mention fireworks every night?
With so much going on, one has to pick their battles. We spent Thursday walking the boardwalk and noting which ships to re-visit. The Bounty, which looked alarmingly like a pirate ship, and the Unicorn, the only all-female crew, were at the top of my list. We also considered staying for the Arr Fresco Film Festo (get it?) screening of Master + Commander, but got sidetracked and ended up watching the fireworks.
Friday the USS Eagle arrived, which appeared to be the tallest of the Tall Ships. Luckily it was open later in the evening, so we got to go onboard and explored, and witnessed the crew displaying true class by moving over a bench so that a young boy could look out the spyglass. We snapped a few dazzling pictures and headed for the Taste of Nova Scotia Food Fare on the Sands at Salter. It was hard to choose, with vendors selling everything from fries to lobster clubs to Chinese food. I settled on a pulled pork sandwich from Fid and a Garrison ginger lime soda from Sugah. Glad I had a drink; that sandwich packed a spicy punch! For dessert was the largest serving of gelato I’ve ever been handed.
Saturday was the Georges Island Party featuring The Lucy Grays, Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers and Hey Rosetta! Such an eventful day couldn’t be packed into this blog post, so there’s another post coming soon. Suffice to say there was perfect weather, a stellar view and amazing music. This was the highlight of the festival for me.
I wished I had more time Saturday, as the Tall Ships Orchestra also performed by Symphony Nova Scotia with guests Old Man Luedecke, David Myles and Rose Cousins. Another sold-out show, I can only imagine how excellent this performance would’ve been.
Wrapping up with the Parade of Sail, one final visit to the Food Fare for a heart-stopping and delightful poutine and one final round of fireworks, we bid farewell (for now) to the Tall Ships Festival.
Post Your Comments