Schooner Festival Returns To Gloucester Harbor For 41st Outing

It's a Labor Day weekend tradition in Gloucester as ships from all over the east coast set sail for the annual schooner fest. WBZ's Kyle Bray reports.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
America's oldest seaport is the destination for anyone that loves
all things ships.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is absolutely the super bowl a schooners.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
That's justin Dimitri the historian for Maritime Gloucester, the group
that puts on the festival. It pays tribute to the
classic schooners that once filled Gloucester's harbor and ran its
fishing industry. It's an opportunity for people to watch the
ships in action and get a chance to see these
beautiful ships up close and personal. Dimitry says his favorite
part is the schooner parade and the harbor because it's
like looking back in time.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is the closest you're going to get to see
what our harbor looked like back before engine power took over.
To see two dozen traditional rigged crafts sailing around dancing
just for your own amusement.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
This year, though with tensions high between the US and Canada,
Nova Scotia's Blue Nose two did not make its long
away to return to the festival.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Actually, they're doing such great tourism business right now since
Canadians are staying home, that they didn't really want to
ruin this good time they're having up there, so we
really couldn't knock them from Gloucester.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Kyle Bray WBZ, Boston's news radio