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Gloucester Schooner Festival

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If new information for this event is already available for this year, please let us know.
Dates:Thursday, August 31, 2023 - Sunday, September 3, 2023
Hours:Hours Vary see below
Ages:Infants, Toddlers, Kids, Teens, Adults
In/Outdoor:Outdoor
Cost:see below
Category:Seasonal Fun

Welcome to the 39th annual Gloucester Schooner Festival! This year, the festival starts Thursday, August 31st, 2023 and concludes with the schooner race on Sunday, September 3rd, 2023.

The Gloucester Schooner Festival celebrates the strong connection of schooners to the history of Gloucester. For two days over Labor Day weekend, Gloucester hosts as many as 20 of these magnificent vessels.

Enjoy the Mayor's Race for schooners, parade of sail, deck tours, public sails, and other maritime activities. For three days, Gloucester Harbor hosts a mix of old and new, as modern-day fishermen share their home port with the traditional vessels of an earlier era.

This capstone to the summer is steeped in history and jam-packed with events and opportunities to get up-close and personal with these beautiful ships. The GSF has become a Labor Day weekend tradition for thousands of people every year and we hope you will join in the festivities!​

View 2022 Schedule of Events

Friday Highlights

All Day - The SCHOONERS ARRIVE - Gloucester Harbor with shoreside viewing
6:00 to 10:00pm - Gloucester Block Party - Main Street, Gloucester

Saturday Highlights

Schooner Viewing and Deck Tours! - 10:00am to 4:00pm
7:00 to 9:30pm - Boat Parade of Lights - Annisquam River and Inner Harbor
9:15 - FIREWORKS!

The Gloucester Schooner Festival is an event put on by Maritime Gloucester and has become a community wide celebration of the age of sail in Gloucester Harbor.

Every year schooners from all over travel to Gloucester to race and to show off their beauty and grace both under sail and as a dock-side attraction.

Lots of schooner masts fill the harbor and remind us of what Gloucester used to be. What a sight! There is a weekend full of maritime activities. The events culminate in Sunday's Mayor's Race for the Esperanto Cup, a trophy from the first International Fishermen's Races sailed in 1920.

On Saturday night at 9:15pm. you won't want to miss the Lighted Boat Parade and FIREWORKS over the harbor.

HOURS↑ top

Various activities all weekend including fireworks over the harbor on Sat. night.

COST↑ top

Costs vary from free to $$ depending upon activities.

WEBSITE↑ top

www.maritimegloucester.org/schooner-festival

LOCATION↑ top

Waterfront, Stage Fort Park, etc., Gloucester, MA, 01930 map

Route 128 North ends in Gloucester, with several exits to choose from. Route 128 and Interstate 95 are the same highway from southern Massachusetts until Peabody, MA. In Peabody, Route 95 branches off toward New Hampshire and Maine. When traveling north on Interstate 95/Rte. 128, you must stay on Route 128 by keeping to the left at this point (this is exit #45).

RELATED LINKS↑ top

Info changes frequently. We cannot warrant it. Verify with Gloucester Schooner Festival before making the trek. If you find an error, please report it...
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