Tall Ships in Halifax, Bluenose II in Lunenburg, Regattas & Races Show Off Nova Scotia’s Maritime Heritage

NOVA SCOTIA, Atlantic Canada, July, 2012 – With its rugged coastline dotted with picturesque fishing villages, historic towns and island-filled bays, Nova Scotia has truly been shaped by the sea. Festivals and events celebrate the province’s colorful maritime traditions throughout the summer. Exhibitions and tours commemorating the 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Titanic continue until October. And, in a few weeks, Halifax and five other ports will welcome the Tall Ships and there are regattas, boat races and maritime festivals all summer long. There’s no better time to visit Nova Scotia.

This month, Nova Scotia will welcome some 20 magnificent sailing vessels when the Tall Ships arrive in Halifax harbor on July 19. Part of the Tall Ships Challenge commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the festivities include music performances, art shows, film screenings and plenty of Nova Scotia’s delicious seafood and award-winning wines. Joining the celebration is Parks Canada with plans to stage re-enactments, story-telling sessions and military spectacles along the waterfront and at the 1865 Halifax Citadel National Historic Site. Departing from Halifax harbor, the fleet will split up with half going north to Port Hawkesbury (July 25-26) and Pictou and Pugwash (July 28-29). The rest of the fleet will sail south to Lunenburg (July 25-27) and Shelburne (July 28-29). The Challenge is coordinated by Tall Ships America, a nonprofit organization focused on youth education, leadership development and preserving the maritime heritage of North America.

FOLLOW THE LIGHTHOUSE ROUTE DOWN NOVA SCOTIA’S SOUTH SHORE

Legends of the sea come alive on the drive down Nova Scotia’s South Shore. The first stop as you drive down the Lighthouse Route is iconic Peggy’s Cove. Sitting on massive granite boulders with waves smashing around it, the 1915 lighthouse is one of Nova Scotia’s 160 lighthouses. Visitors can stroll through the tiny hamlet of wooden houses, still a working fishing village, and perhaps the most photographed one in Canada. Chester, the next stop, is a town of wooden saltboxes and Cape-Cod style architecture that offers some of the best sailing on the Eastern Seaboard. Canada’s largest fixed-keel regatta takes place here August 11 to 15. Further down the road, Mahone Bay was originally known for its pirates and privateers and later as a thriving shipbuilding center. Today visitors can kayak around the bay’s hidden coves, paddle over to Oak Island or browse through galleries and studios of the many artists that make their homes here in the summer. At the Mahone Bay Pirate Festival & Regatta, (August 3 to 5), there will be concerts, sailing races, classic boat competitions, buskers and marauding buccaneers.

With its colorful wooden houses and brightly-painted fishing boats, Lunenburg is a jewel of a town and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic chronicles the province’s long fishing heritage. Also notable is Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador, the Bluenose II, which is undergoing a major rebuild. Visitors are invited to see its progress before it is relaunched in the fall. Built in Lunenburg, the original Bluenose was the fastest vessel in the North Atlantic fleet in the 1920s and 1930s.

For the second year in a row, the Wooden Boat Reunion will welcome all boats constructed of wood to Lunenburg and there will be sailing races and the 6th Annual Heritage Cup for Schooners. And from August 9 to 12, the 27th annual Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival will feature some 80 performances in various venues around the town.

From the time of the American Revolution right through to the War of 1812, Liverpool was a leading privateer port. Country music buffs will want to stop in at the Hank Snow Museum, while others will head for the beautiful beaches to swim, surf or kayak. In 1784, Shelburne’s population was 10,000, twice that of Halifax. Later, in the 1880s, the port was a center for dory building. The Dory Shop Museum showcases this small boat that was so important to Atlantic Canadian and New England fishing captains. Yarmouth has an iconic lighthouse, charming Victorian architecture and lots of history. Canada’s second largest port in 1879, it was later a vital connection between Nova Scotia and Boston and New York. And all along the Lighthouse Route, visitors will delight in the delicious bounty from the sea: fresh lobster, Digby scallops, mussels and haddock which they can pair with some of the province’s award-winning wines.

HALIFAX, HISTORIC SEAPORT

Recalling the grand Age of Sail, the city’s waterfront looks much like it did in the late 1700s and early 1800s when merchant ships, privateers and navy vessels plied the harbor.

Constructed by Halifax’s earlier settlers in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Historic Properties include 10 of the city’s oldest buildings. Visitors can stroll along the boardwalk on Halifax’s waterfront stopping for a visit at The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which has the world’s largest collection of wooden artifacts from the Titanic. A special exhibition, “Cable Ships: Connecting Halifax to The Titanic and the World” continues to November 4. Exhibitions also continue to October at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and the Nova Scotia Archives. Stop in at the Seaport Market and pick up a lobster roll and then head to Pier 21, Canada’s Ellis Island and hear the stories of the 1.5 million immigrants who passed through its doors between 1928 and 1971.

ADVENTURES IN THE BAY OF FUNDY

There are plenty of active vacation and soft adventure options, from whale watching to clam digging, on Nova Scotia’s side of the Bay of Fundy. With the world’s highest tides, this 170-mile-long ocean bay is an ideal environment for whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds, and in summer, half the world population of endangered North Atlantic Right whales and 12 other whale species feed here! As the tides ebb, visitors can walk along towering cliffs discovering 300-million-year-old fossils and Canada’s oldest dinosaurs at Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a UNESCO World Heritage site. When the tides are flowing back, nothing is more thrilling than tidal bore rafting. Hold on to your paddle! Fundy Adventures, out of Gulliver’s Cove, offers visitors the chance to learn from the locals: clamming with a clam digger, lobstering with a lobsterman and find out how to harvest the Bay’s renowned dulse. Plus, you’ll hear their personal stories and learn more about the Bay.

FOOD LOVERS: HEAD TO CAPE BRETON ISLAND IN AUGUST

Cape Breton will be the place for food lovers from August 18 to 26 as Right Some Good highlights the island’s spectacular scenery, pristine seafood, high quality produce and renowned hospitality. The Kilted Chef, Alain Bosse, this year’s International Culinary Director, will pair ten chefs from Canada, the U.S., U.K., China, Dubai, India and Switzerland with Cape Breton chefs and Canadian apprentice chefs. Their assignment: to create memorable meals with indigenous ingredients at iconic venues such as Keltic Lodge Resort and Spa, Cabot Links, the home of Alexander Graham Bell and the 1740 Louisbourg Fortress). Chefs include Gilbert Decourt (Louisiana), Jose Duarte (Boston), Michael Reidt (Miami), Jill Davie (Los Angeles), Allan Coxon (London), Andy Rea (Belfast). Frank Widmer (Zurich), Surgan Singh (Dubai) and Mariano D’Antonio (Beijing.) In addition to the delicious cuisine, visitors will get to experience Cape Breton’s celebrated music and dance. Tickets are $85 CAD for five events and are on sale now on the web site.

For more information about Nova Scotia, go to www.novascotia.com or call:

1-800-565-0000).

About the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership

This project has been made possible thru funding provided by the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership (ACTP). A nine member pan-Atlantic initiative, it comprises the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the four Atlantic Canada Tourism industry Associations and the four Provincial Departments responsible for tourism. For further information about the other three provinces, contact your travel provider or go to www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca (1-800-561-0123), www.newfoundlandlabrador.com (1-800-563-NFLD) and for Prince Edward Island, go to www.tourismpei.com (1-800-463-4PEI).

 

July 13, 2012 · admin · Comments Closed
Posted in: Canada