OpSail 2000™ Comes to Philadelphia
Photo by John Fischer
When President John F. Kennedy founded Operation Sail, Inc. in 1961, few could have imagined that the organization would last for almost 40 years and organize the most amazing assemblages of the world's tall ships.
A non-profit corporation, Operation Sail, Inc. has organized such events as the 1964 World's Fair Parade of Ships, the 1976 Bicentennial Tall Ships celebration and the 1992 celebration in honor of the 500th anniversary of Columbus's landing in the Americas.
This year, Operation Sail, Inc. has produced OpSail 2000™ , a special millennium program involving seven ports from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Portland, Maine. In each port over the seven weeks of the sail, people will not only be able to see the tall ships in full sail, but also visit the tall ships while they are in port
The tall ships will be arriving in Philadelphia on June 23 and departing for New York City on June 29. During this same period approximately half of the armada will be in Baltimore's Harbor. For those who wish to see the rest of the ships, a short two hour drive to Baltimore's Inner Harbor will allow you to see and enjoy the ships which will not be coming to Philadelphia.
About.com's Baltimore Guide, Gloria Dasch, has prepared a companion piece to this feature which will help you with your plans to visit the tall ships in Baltimore.
Locally, the celebration of tall ships will be shared by both the Philadelphia and Camden sides of the river. The three tallest ships will berth at International Cruise Terminal at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center, at the former Philadelphia Navy Base. Ten ships will berth at Penn’s Landing and another ten ships are scheduled to berth at Camden’s Waterfront which is soon to be the permanent home of the Battleship U.S.S. New Jersey.
In addition to tours of the ships, there will be concerts, craft shows, fireworks and laser-light shows as well as lots of food.
We've added a gallery of photos of the tall ships arriving in Philadelphia on Friday, June 23, 2000.
To assist you when making plans to visit OpSail Philadelphia 2000™, here is a list of the events, which are subject to change.
Friday, June 23
9:00 am to 3:00 pm - Parade of Sail on the Delaware River
9:30 pm - Sound and Laser Light Show south of the Ben Franklin Bridge
Saturday, June 24
10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Public Visitation of Ships
Noon to 5:00 pm - Camden Waterfront Arts Festival
9:45 pm - Fireworks Display south of the Ben Franklin Bridge
Sunday, June 25
10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Public Visitation of Ships
Noon to 4:00 pm - San Juan Bautiste Parade
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Concert at River Stage, Wiggins Park
9:30 pm - Sound and Laser Show south of the Ben Franklin Bridge
Monday, June 26
10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Public Visitation of Ships
Tuesday, June 27
10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Public Visitation of Ships
Wednesday, June 28
10:00 am to 1:00 pm - Public Visitation of Ships (Penn's Landing and Camden
only)
Thursday, June 29
10:00 - Ships begin to depart
10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Remaining ships open for Public Visitation
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