INDEPENDENCE SEAPORT MUSEUM LAUNCHES THE OLD CITY SEAPORT FESTIVAL

Independence Seaport Museum has partnered with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, Philadelphia Weekly, WXPN and the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild to launch the Old City Seaport Festival, a weekend of Tall Ships, food, live music, crafts, pirates and maritime fun along the waterfront. The Festival kicks off Friday, October 5th with a majestic parade of boats along Penn’s Landing. On Saturday and Sunday the landing around the Seaport Museum will be filled will maritime-related activities, and the Festival will be capped off with a bang on Sunday when the Tall Ships take to the river for a pirate battle and sunset sail.
“We hope to bring area residents and visitors out to the waterfront with food, entertainment and events that are fun for all ages,” said John Brady, CEO. “The Old City Seaport Festival is an opportunity to experience and enjoy the Delaware River aboard small crafts and visiting tall ships.”

Outside the Museum, the landing comes alive with buskers, rowboat races in the basin, antique and classic boats and the centerpiece of the festival, the majestic Tall Ships. Philadelphia’s official Tall Ship, Gazela will join the Pride of Baltimore II and NJ’s official Tall Ship, AJ Meerwald in offering free deck tours to festival goers.
Inside the Museum, younger visitors will delight in the Pirate’s Lair, a family-friendly zone featuring sea chantey singers in pirate dress, live parrots and other creatures from Philadelphia Zoo’s Zoo on Wheels program, face painters, games and activities. The Museum’s regular exhibit areas will also be open, and special pirate-themed items from the Museum’s collection that are not usually on display will be shown throughout the weekend. Visitors can even try out a replica peg-leg that was crafted in the Museum’s Workshop on the Water and see a real one that is part of the collection.

Old City Seaport Festival Events:
Friday, October 5
• Watch the ships arrive at the Festival in a majestic Parade of Boats from 5:00 pm to 7:00pm. The Seaport Museum's 2nd floor deck will be the prime parade viewing location.
Saturday, October 6
• Festival hours 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Tall Ships open for deck tours 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
• Music, food trucks, craft vendors, and in-water and pirate activities throughout the day
• Sunset river tours 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Sunday, October 7
• Festival hours 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Tall Ships open for deck tours 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
• Music, food trucks, craft vendors, and in-water and pirate activities throughout the day
• Sunset river tours 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
• Pirate Battle begins at 5:00 pm

River Tours:
Pride of Baltimore II and A.J. Meerwald
Both ships will take passengers for sunset tours from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm on Friday, October 5, Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7. The Friday evening river tour includes participation in the Parade of Boats. The Sunday river tour includes participation in the Pirate Battle, and people are encouraged (though not required) to come dressed in their pirate best.
Please note that the Pirate Battle includes the firing of loud mock cannons and may not be suitable for small children. For pictures from last year’s Pirate Battle visit www.phillyseaport.org Pride of Baltimore II river tour tickets are $65 for adults and $35 for children. A.J. Meerwald river tour tickets are $50 for adults and $25 for children.

Summer Wind Schedule:
Friday, October 5
Evening Sail: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Saturday, October 6
Day sails: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Evening sail: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Sunday, October 7
Day sails: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Evening sail: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Summer Wind river tours are $45 for daytime sails and $50 for evening sails.
Ticketing information:
All visitors must purchase tickets to gain access to the Festival area. Festival tickets include admission to the Seaport Museum, the Museum’s historic ships, crafts, entertainment, activities and deck tours aboard the Tall Ships. Discounted online tickets can be purchased in advance. Ticket prices are:

Adult single-day online tickets: $15
Adult two-day passes: $20
Children single-day tickets are $10
Children two-day online passes are $15
Save $1. per ticket by purchasing online in advance!
Online ticket holders will also enjoy express entry at the gates. Seaport Museum members pay only $5 for tickets when they show their member card. River tours ticket prices vary by ship. Admission tickets and river tour tickets can be purchased at www.phillyseaport.org/seaportfestival.
157-foot Pride of Baltimore II is the world’s most renowned American War of 1812 privateer sailing today. Pride of Baltimore II was commissioned in 1988 as a sailing memorial to her immediate predecessor, the original Pride of Baltimore, which was tragically sunk by a white squall off Puerto Rico in 1986, taking her captain and three crew members down with her. Both ships were built in the Inner Harbor as reproductions of 1812-era topsail schooners, the type of vessels, called Baltimore Clippers, which helped America win the War of 1812 and finally secure its freedom.
A.J. Meerwald, a 85-foot oyster schooner, launched in 1928 and was one of hundreds of schooners built along South Jersey's Delaware Bayshore before the decline of the shipbuilding industry that coincided with 

the Great Depression. Her construction is 'oak on oak': oak planks laid on oak frames as was the tradition in Dorchester built vessels. She has relatively light scantlings, no knees and no horntimber, also characteristic of Dorchester schooners.
The 177-foot barkentine Gazela was built in 1901 at the shipyard of J. M. Mendes in Setubal, Portugal. Gazela was built to carry fisherman to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Every spring she would leave Lisbon with a crew of 40 men and a couple apprentices. In her hold would be 90 tons of salt, which would be used for the cod fish that were caught, preserving them for the long trip home. The Gazela is run by the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild and is Philadelphia’s Official Tall Ship.

Built in 1979, Summer Wind is a steel-hulled 48-foot Chinese Junk-rigged schooner and sails regularly along the Delaware River at Philadelphia in addition to private charters to the Chesapeake Bay. The Summer Wind is one of a handful of Chinese Junk-rigged schooners in North America.

Founded in 1960 by J. Welles Henderson, Independence Seaport Museum (ISM) maintains one of the
largest maritime collections in North America, combining more than 25,000 artifacts with hands-on
exhibits, large-scale models, and audiovisuals. Visitors can enjoy permanent exhibits such as Home Port Philadelphia, What Floats Your Boat?, and Divers of the Deep, as well as rotating original exhibits like Drawn to the Water—Artists of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Capture our Region’s Waterways, 1830-Present, on display until December 31, 2011. In addition to exhibits, the Seaport Museum has a working wooden boat shop, the J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library and a concert hall with sound stage quality acoustics. The Seaport Museum also includes two National Historic Landmark ships—the Spanish-American War cruiser, Olympia, and the World War II submarine Becuna. Located at Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing waterfront, the museum is open year round. Visit www.phillyseaport.org for more information.