The Festival

 
 

What’s On

Click here to check out what’s happening in Waterford during The Tall Ships Races 2011. There’s free street entertainment; live music; parades; fire works; a fringe festival; food village; Irish craft village a fun fair and lots, lots more. Click here to download the event map (2mb pdf file).

The opening ceremony with An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and renowned illusionist, Keith Barry, will take place on the William Vincent Wallace Plaza at 3.15pm on Thursday, 30th June. This will kick start Ireland’s biggest Quayside party ever so don’t miss it!

Navigate the tool bars to find out what’s on each day

Thursday-Sunday, June 30-July 3, 2011 will be three extraordinary days of festival fun in the city followed by a glorious Parade of Sail along the Waterford and Wexford estuary, as Ireland once again hosts The Tall Ships Races.

This is one of the most spectacular and colourful events in the world and Waterford is gearing up to host around 50 majestic Tall Ships; 1,500 sail trainees and an anticipated 500,000 maritime, music and festival fans on the quays of Ireland’s oldest city.

The Tall Ships Races is set to be the biggest event in Ireland in 2011 and the return of The Tall Ships to Ireland’s South East region will be celebrated with a festival programme capturing the very best of Irish and international acts; street theatre; fireworks; music and food.

On board the Tall Ships will also be dozens of Irish young people enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate as trainees, alongside their international peers.

This will be an unforgettable occasion and four days of incredible festival fun.

 
 
After two years of preparations involving an estimated 13,760 hours of voluntary effort, Waterford successfully hosted The Tall Ships Races 2011 from June 30-July 3.
It’s estimated that 500,000 people enjoyed the spectacle in the city and along the Suir Estuary. To all those individuals and organisations that made this huge international event possible and to the people of Waterford who embraced the occasion brilliantly – thank you. To those who visited Waterford, we look forward to welcoming you back soon and invite you to visit www.discoverwaterfordcity.ie to keep up-to-date on what’s happening in Ireland’s oldest city. To the sail training family at the heart of The Tall Ships Races, we look forward to your return!

Here we showcase a small selection of Dylan Vaughan’s photography from four magical days.