PARADE OF SAIL

PARADE OF SAIL  |  THURSDAY  |  FRIDAY  |  SATURDAY  |  SUNDAY

Parade of Sail Event

Thursday, July 4

Presented by OneNiagara®
Witness the  majestic spectacle of 12 Tall Ships sailing into Buffalo harbor on Thursday, July 4!

Schedule subject to change

SCHEDULE:*

  • 2:00 PM   Ships gather in Lake Erie at "muster point"

  • 3:00 PM   Parade of Sail underway

  • 5:00 PM   Arrival into harbor for docking at Canalside, Riverwalk/Erie Street, and Erie Basin Marina

Ships will be piped in by the Erie County Sheriff's Pipes & Drums

* Subject to wind and weather conditions

NOTE:  THE PARADE OF SAIL IS ACCOMPANIED BY A "MOVING SAFETY ZONE." RECREATIONAL VESSELS MUST MAINTAIN A SAFE DISTANCE (100 YARDS) FROM THE PARADE.

PARTICIPATING VESSELS (TENTATIVE PARADE SEQUENCE):

  1. U.S. Coast Guard Vessel
  2. Spirit of Buffalo
  3. Brig Niagara
  4. Oriole
  5. Empire Sandy
  6. St. Lawrence II
  7. Pride of Baltimore II
  8. Appledore IV
  9. Bluenose II
  10. Appledore V
  11. Denis Sullivan
  12. Picton Castle

(Santa Maria will arrive early, and will not participate in the Parade of Sail)

BEST VANTAGE POINTS FOR WATCHING THE PARADE:

  • Lighthouse Point and Outer Harbor (see the parade in its entirety)
  • Templeton Landing, Erie Basin Marina, Riverwalk/Erie St., Canalside (partial viewing).

AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT...

Lighthouse Point will be one of the prime viewing areas for tall ships docking on July 4. The historic site also will host a patriotic concert, Civil War encampment demonstrations, children's activities and the cannon salutes for the Parade of Sail ships.

The Buffalo Niagara Concert Band, a 70-piece orchestra, will perform during the Parade of Sail. Children's activities will include a make-a-lighthouse station, and the site includes outdoor exhibits, a mobile phone self-guided tour and videos on lighthouse history and technology.

Reenactment gun crews will fire salutes from a restricted area near the 1833 lighthouse. Shots will be fired by a French and Indian War reenactment crew from Old Fort Niagara, and by the Civil War reenactment Reynolds Battery. The Civil War group also will have up to a dozen Living History stations demonstrating period camp life, music, cooking, semaphore signaling and other elements including John Baronich's authentic traveling blacksmith forge, one of only a handful in the country.

The landmark 1833 lighthouse itself will be used for Parade Control and the media during the Parade of Sail, and will not be open to the general public during that part of the holiday weekend. Site admission requires a $5 day pass.

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