Final day! What you need to know for Day 4 of Tall Ships Erie 2022

A.J. Rao, Erie Times-News
·3 min read

If you haven't checked out Tall Ships Erie 2022 yet, Sunday is your last chance.

The festival, located at the foot of State Street, at the Erie Maritime Museum and Bayfront Convention Center, runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and includes day sails and deck tours of tall ships and an assortment of bayfront attractions.

Since the Tall Ships Erie festival occurs every three years, the next one will tentatively occur in 2025.

What to do on land:Tall Ships Erie 2022: Festival to offer variety of attractions on land, too

Visitors use the skybridge connecting the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel and the Bayfront Convention Center, left, during Tall Ships Erie 2022 in Erie on Aug. 27. Ships, visible from lower left to center right, include the St. Lawrence II, Pride of Baltimore II and Empire Sandy. The Nao Trinidad is docked, background left.
Visitors use the skybridge connecting the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel and the Bayfront Convention Center, left, during Tall Ships Erie 2022 in Erie on Aug. 27. Ships, visible from lower left to center right, include the St. Lawrence II, Pride of Baltimore II and Empire Sandy. The Nao Trinidad is docked, background left.

The weather forecast

A sunny conclusion to Tall Ships Erie 2022. The National Weather Service in Cleveland, as of Friday at 11 a.m., projected mostly sunny skies and a high of 85 degrees Sunday. The festival is a rain or shine event.

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Parking/transportation

Parking near the festival grounds will be limited. Festival attendees are encouraged to park in the city, then take a parking shuttle to the festival. Bayfront Convention Center lots will be reserved for prepaid handicap and VIP parking only, according to Tall Ships Erie officials.

Portions of Holland Street, State Street and Sassafras Street extension north of the Bayfront Parkway will not be open to general public vehicle traffic.

Explore the tall ships:Tall Ships Erie 2022: Explore the tall ships coming to this year's festival

For a list of publicly available garages along the shuttle route, visit: tallshipserie.org/plan-your-visit.

All shuttle routes run from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Shuttles are free to the public and no festival pass is required to ride.

Day sails/deck tours

All day sails are sold out. The tall ships are available for deck tours. Visit tallshipserie.org for more information or call 833-724-5873.

That's interesting

Want to learn more about the Battle of Lake Erie?

Check out the presentations at the Erie Maritime Museum's Hirt Auditorium on Sunday:

  • At 1 p.m., author and Edinboro University graduate John Corrigan will discuss his historical mystery novel "The Witch's Fleet," which weaves a tale around the events of 1812-1813, as Oliver Hazard Perry's historic squadron was constructed in Erie.

  • At 2:30 p.m., National Park Service Rangers Stephanie DeMatteo and Caleb Parsons, who come from the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial site at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, discuss the Battle of Lake Erie and the importance of Perry's victory.

What’s ahead

Kevin Seeker, social media and website chairperson for Tall Ships Erie, said ship tours will be closed to the public after the festival ends on Sunday at 6 p.m. However, he added some ship captains may decide to open their ships for tours Monday morning.

He said the Nao Trinidad in 2019 — then known as the Nao Santa Maria — was available for deck tours the day after the festival closed because the captain felt the lines were long during the festival and he wanted to give everyone a chance to see the ship.

Seeker added the ships will likely depart Erie on Monday but it all depends on the ship's individual schedules.

Tall Ships boost economy:What is the financial impact of the Tall Ships Erie festival on local businesses?

When asked about the potential for Tall Ships Erie 2025, Seeker said "definitely."

"This is a great festival. And for the Flagship Niagara League, it's a major fundraiser and helps keep the Brig Niagara going. Everybody's happy about it," he said.

Erie is the final stop for the tall ships as part of the 2022 Tall Ships Challenge, an event organized every three years by Tall Ships America, a nonprofit dedicated to tall ships and sail training. Previous stops on the festival tour were Brockville, Ontario; Cleveland, Ohio; Midland, Ontario; and Two Harbors, Minnesota.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Tall Ships Erie 2022 festival essentials for Day 4. What to know