Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta: What you need to know

The Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta will be taking over the city this weekend with thousands expected to descend along the waterfront.

President and CEO of Waterfront Development Jennifer Angel told The Rick Howe Show, upwards of 600,000 people attended the Tall Ships event in 2009, so they’re expecting a lot of visitors in Halifax this weekend.

The waterfront is a busy place on an average day, especially with the amount of construction that has been going on, but Angel said the newly constructed sea bridge should help ease congestion.

“People seem to enjoy it and it has been accessible for people so we’re really happy about that,” she said. “We’ve been working closely with our partners at the city and also with the bridge commission to ensure traffic flows as well as can be expected on such a busy weekend.”

Parking will be at a premium so the municipality has added extra ferry crossings and Halifax Transit will have bus shuttles operating from Alderney Terminal to Lower Water Street Terminal to get people across the harbour. (DETAILS BELOW)

Once along the waterfront, the Halifax Community Road Train will move visitors through the downtown core, and a shuttle will carry people up Citadel Hill, and back down to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on Lower Water Street.

Angel said the first two ships came into the harbour Thursday night, with most arriving Friday and into Saturday morning.

“Generally if there’s an opportunity to have a bit of a spectacle, they’ll take it,” said Angel. “Some come in with the sails dropped and even crew members up among the masts, others have the sails up, it depends on conditions.”

tall ships harbour map

The ships will be open to the public 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday with many other events taking place to showcase Nova Scotia to attendees.

“Taste Nova Scotia is doing Georges Island dinner series, we have Joel Plaskett and Port Cities on Georges Island [Saturday], tickets are nearly sold out for that event, we have Explore Georges Island on Sunday and Monday,” she explained. “There’s pop up stages all along the waterfront, the main stage, a food fair by the sea.”

The event wraps up Tuesday with the Parade of Sail, when the Bluenose II will lead the ships out of the harbour.

“We’re also working with our friends at Dalhousie University who are encouraging the community to wear blue for the Parade of Sail and wave the ships goodbye,” she said.

 

GETTING AROUND

The MacDonald Bridge will be open throughout the weekend to vehicles, bikes and pedestrians until 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Lower Water St. between George and Prince will be closed to traffic on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. so festival visitors can roam freely.

Traffic will be detouring up Prince St. and along Bedford Row, where there will be no parking for the weekend.

tall ships closure

HRM spokesperson Nick Ritcey tells NEWS 95.7 ferry routes will follow their regular schedule on Saturday but will eventually expand the service on Sunday.

“Between 11:15 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday the ferry will be running every 15 minutes,” said Ritcey.

Ritcey says ferries will again operate every 15 minutes on Tuesday morning from 6:30 a.m. to noon for the Parade of Sail.

Bus shuttles will also be operating between the Alderney and Lower Water St. terminals between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, leaving the terminals as they are filled.

Transit users can also take advantage of Park and Ride facilities.

Standard transit fares apply to all bus, ferry and shuttle services.

THINGS TO DO

All tall ships will be open to visitors from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday through Monday and there is no fee, but you will need photo identification to board any international ships.

 

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