The International Festival of the Sea was a maritime festival, held in and around the Floating Harbour in the English port city of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. Held from 24 to 27 May 1996, it was the first of a series of International Festivals of the Sea that have since been held in various United Kingdom ports. The key theme of the Bristol festival was

John Cabot John Cabot ( ; 1450 – 1499) was an Italians, Italian navigator and exploration, explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England, Henry VII, King of England is the earliest known Europe ...

's pioneering voyage of discovery to the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. As part of the festival, a replica of Cabot's ship, the '' Matthew'', was dedicated prior to its reenactment of Cabot's voyage the following year. Other vessels taking part included the

tall ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...

s '' Eye of the Wind'', '' Pride of Baltimore'', ''

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

'', '' Kaskelot'' and ''

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

''. The sail training ship ''

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

'' made the news by going aground in the tricky passage of the

Avon Gorge The Avon Gorge () is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long Canyon, gorge on the River Avon (Bristol), River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5&nbs ...

on the approaches to the Floating Harbour; no casualties or damage was sustained and the ship was subsequently refloated. Unlike the annual Bristol Harbour Festival, the International Festival of the Sea was a ticketed event. This necessitated cordoning off the, usually publicly accessible, harbourside areas, together with nearby parts of the city centre. Within this cordon visitors were able to view the visiting ships and boats, and watch live music, street performances and other entertainments. The festival was brought to a close by a firework display. The festival was extensively covered by

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, with several live programs broadcast from the event. The coverage was presented by Peter Snow, Jill Dando and

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She ha ...

, with additional material by Tony Robinson and Antony Worrall Thompson. The festival failed to acknowledge Bristol's involvement in the slave trading industry.Otele, O. (2012). Bristol, slavery and the politics of representation: the Slave Trade Gallery in the Bristol Museum. Social Semiotics, 22(2), pp.155–172. doi:10.1080/10350330.2012.665231.

References

1996 in England Festivals in Bristol Bristol Harbourside 1990s in Bristol {{UK-festival-stub