For the sixth time since the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, majestic sailing ships from around the world will slip back into the Colonial tapestry of Newport Harbor this month for a Tall Ships festival, this time with an international theme.
Many of the planners say they are captivated by the sheer beauty of the square-rigged clipper ships and schooners that will coast into Newport for the June 27-July 1 festival from as far as Colombia, Brazil, Indonesia and India – for a total of 21 ships representing 11 countries.
“These ships are beautiful works of art,” said Evan Smith, president and CEO of the Newport County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. “When you look at them, you are captivated by the sea and life on the sea.”
J. Timothy O’Reilly, chairman of the Newport Harbor Corp., a major local hospitality company, said the traditional Parade of Sail, when the ships move in procession out to sea, “is a wonderful spectacle, a beautiful expression of man’s ingenuity.”
People who depend on tourism for their livelihood note that the five-day festival is projected to draw up to 250,000 visitors who will bring their excitement and their dollars, and who will leave with plans to visit Newport again.
“A large part of Newport’s tourism identification is the sea,” said Keith W. Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. “The Tall Ships represent Newport’s maritime heritage going back hundreds of years.”
The festival will be used as a vehicle to boost children’s interest in maritime life. A project called Adventure in Learning has created a curriculum for schoolchildren that uses Tall Ships to study history, geography, meteorology and life at sea.
The curriculum packets include a “passport” for each student that has pictures and information about the ships and a place to receive an official stamp from each ship the child visits in port. Scores of schools and youth and Scout groups are participating.
In addition, 200 young people aged 14 to 19 from disadvantaged communities have been selected to come onboard some of the ships for day sails while ships are in Newport or for week-long sails before the ships arrive or after they leave.
One major purpose of the festival, said Thomas Weschler, a retired Navy vice admiral and co-chairman of the event, is to promote a theme of internationalism. The festival is pegged to the 50th anniversary of the Naval Command College, an advanced program of internationalism and diplomacy within the Naval War College attended by midcareer naval officers from around the world. Newport will be awash in brass buttons and epaulets as 200 alumni of the college attend dinners, galas and receptions.
Because many of the Tall Ships are cadet training vessels for their nations’ navies, the link with the Naval Command College anniversary made this festival a priority for many officials scheduling the ships’ summer itineraries.
The festival is a homecoming for the ships in another sense because Newport is the headquarters of the American Sail Training Association, a membership organization that includes many Tall Ships. This festival is part of the Tall Ship Challenge, a series of stops the ships will make this summer from Charleston, S.C., to Norfolk, Va., to Newport, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The international nature of the festival is an aspect that Richard Korn, co-owner of the Newport restaurant Yesterday’s, says that he cherishes. Sailors from incoming ships explore the city like other tourists, he said.
“The people from other countries are seeing things of tremendous historic value here,” Korn said. “And this forces people here to understand other languages.”
Stokes noted that, unlike Colonial ports such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia, which have been transformed over the centuries, Newport still contains hundreds of Colonial-period buildings, and its streets, structures and skyline are on an 18th-century scale. This, he said, makes Newport a perfect setting for the Tall Ships.
Stokes said the Tall Ships attract high-quality tourists, meaning people of all ages who are likely to fan out during the festival to restaurants, shops and other attractions. “This is the gold ring of tourists,” Stokes said of the family- and child-oriented group of visitors.
It is hard to anticipate revenue from a Tall Ships festival, but Stokes said the 2004 festival had an economic impact of $10 million statewide, based on sales tax collections. And this festival also brings return visitors from people who saw Newport during the festival and choose to return later to see other local attractions.
Bringing the ships to Newport will cost about $1 million, said Joe Lorenz, director of marketing for the Tall Ships committee. The money is being raised from major sponsors, such title sponsor Amica Insurance, as well as smaller sponsors and sales of commemorative products such as posters, note cards, neckties and scarves, booster pins, hats and coffee mugs. A retail store that sells the products is now operating at 71 Long Wharf. Lorenz says the committee foresees raising the $1 million.
There are some concerns about congestion. Korn, of Yesterday’s, emphasized the need for satellite parking and public bathrooms.
Stokes and other planners say everything is being done to strip away the difficulties inherent to a popular festival. Satellite parking and shuttles to downtown will be extensive. Fort Adams will be the epicenter of Tall Ships events, but the 21 visiting ships will be scattered all along Newport’s waterfront to ease congestion.
Other highlights of the festival include an International Village at Storer Park, where arts, cuisine and native dress from the countries sending ships to the festival will be showcased at tent pavilions; a maritime education exhibit for children at Fort Adams; live music and theater, seamanship competitions between ships’ crews; a ball at The Breakers; and finally, the magnificent Parade of Sail as the ships leave on July 1.
Weschler, the elder statesman of the festival, says that in addition to the internationalism of the event, the most important thing to him is the exposure to ships and the sea that it will offer to young people.
“The big idea is that people will find it exciting to see all the different ships and cultures,” he said. “It is like having the world at your doorstep.”
