April 2016

The tall ship El Galeon, in its first trip to Massachusetts, will be the star attraction in Newburyport this Memorial Day weekend. Memorial weekend is always a fun time in Newburyport, with the annual Spring Arts and Flowers festival organized by the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce, but this year the weekend will be especially grand with the Spanish ship arriving for the Custom House & Maritime Museum’s celebration of Newburyport’s maritime history. The long weekend will feature a small carnival and local vendors selling their hand-crafted wares.

The Galeon, a 170-foot 495-ton wooden replica of a 16th century galleon class sailing ship, is expected to arrive in Newburyport on Wednesday, May 25, and be open for tours throughout the weekend. The harbormaster will help the ship to get through the harbor entrance by keeping traffic clear that day, so we urge our boating friends to keep that in mind. It should be a great show, however, to watch it arrive.