Gloucester Tall Ships Festival 2007 - Review

REVIEW: Gloucester Tall Ships Festival 2007

Well what a success!

The first and hopefully not last Gloucester Tall Ships Festival at the Docks this year was a resounding result for the capital and we dearly hope to see it return for 2008 - as this is what the city needed after such a dreadful year. It was a breath of fresh air which not only brought the ships down the Sharpness Canal but what the organisers gave the thousands of on-lookers who came to see this nautical spectacular.

The arrival of the ships on Friday attracted a larger number than anticipated and we feel that more festivities should have begun then, as visitors were eager to stay in the Docks. The array of entertainments over the weekend were well received and the organisers, Gloucester Renaissance and City Council did extremely well to coordinate the event and bring the 20,000 plus visitors to the Docks - after all nobody really knew what to expect.

The Docks is the biggest asset that Gloucester has and should attract more visitors and with the new proposed development of the Quay we feel the future is looking up for the Docks. It’s vitally important that it maintains its maritime links and it’s been suggested that Gloucester Docks needs more permanent attractions - perhaps the Johanna Lucretia (one of the Tall Ships) could be one of them – it is indeed a beautiful ship although in need of some TLC but it’s certainly in the right location to receive some. T. Nielsen and Co. are traditional shipbuilders and bring classic ships into the Docks. They themselves must attract visitors to the Docks wishing to see craftsmen working in the setting for which it was originally built. Speaking with Sarah and Tommi of Nielsen's, they too are eager to see the development of the Docks and have become frustrated by the previous attempts over the past few years.

This was the first year of the Gloucester Tall Ships Festival and as it was an astounding success, must return in 2008. We are sure plans are already being drawn up.

• Also see : Gloucester Tall Ships Festival website