United Kingdom, Britain. April 18, 2005.

Towns and cities, villages, stately homes, attractions and open spaces all over the country are holding festivals and events with a watery theme this year. SeaBritain 2005 is a year-long celebration of the nation's special relationship with the sea and its maritime heritage. The inspiration is the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson.
So there are commemorations and re-enactments of Nelson's finest - and last - hour as he led the British fleet to victory in October, 1805.

There'll be pomp, ceremony and pageantry aplenty, but if you are focused on fun or maybe travelling with children, there are also festivals, exhibitions, shows and activities that are bound to appeal, for all ages and interests.
In North-West England, Easter sees Lancaster staging its Maritime Festival and Trafalgar Victory Fair - this historic town will go mad for shanty-singing (folk music by seafarers) and ships-in-a-bottle, ornamental ropework and other maritime traditions. But beware the costumed 'Press Gangs' roaming the streets, forcing unsuspecting civilians to serve in the king's navy!
Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria has a summer-long Festival of the Sea, with concerts, events, family fun days, regattas and boat shows, culminating in the celebrations and bonfires for the Trafalgar Weekend of October 21-23, when the whole country joins in with street parties and commemorations.

In London, Tate Britain opens its Turner and the Sea exhibition this weekend too, running until November 6, and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich - part of the World Heritage Site - stages a blockbuster Nelson & Napoléon exhibition from (July 7 - November 6), celebrating these two influential heroes and the impact of the Battle of Trafalgar on the course of European history. The museum also has a National Trust/Magnum Photography exhibition, The Coast Exposed, from March until January 2006: this can also be seen at The Waterfront in Belfast, Northern Ireland (May 30 - June 24); Trelissick Gallery in Cornwall (July 30 - September 4) and the Lowry in Salford near Manchester (September 24 - January 6).

Brouhaha is the name of a festival in Liverpool, in North-West England (May 1 - July 31), a spectacle of dance, acrobatics, puppetry, music and drama by international groups at venues across the city: theme - experiencing the sea. The Vikings 'invade' Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, on May 28 for Fire and Fury - a spectacular of sagas, stargazing and boat-burning under the night sky, while during the long light days of June the Orkney Islands, to the north of Scotland, stage the music, drama and art of the sea. On June 18, Poole Harbour on the South Coast encourages visitors to Go Boating! - a street- and water-festival with the chance to get afloat and to enjoy the sounds, sights and seafood of this ferry port and one of the world's largest natural harbours.

Portsmouth, South Coast home of the Royal Navy, stages its annual festivities from June 18-25. This year it focuses on Trafalgar 200, the anniversary, with a son-et-lumière and firework display. The largest gathering of ships for decades takes part in an International Fleet Review - with navies and ships from more than 40 countries - plays, concerts and exhibitions on the theme of Trafalgar; culminating in the International festival of the Sea (June 30 - July 3). This is a rallying of tall ships from all over the world and exhibitions and activities based on seafaring tradition.
On June 25-26, Whitehaven in Cumbria has its Maritime Festival with seafood, fireworks, tall ships, exploring local culture and its relationship with the water while SeaGuernsey conjures up some Midsummer Magic, a multimedia festival which expands across all the Channel islands.

During July, a Traditional Boat Rally takes place (July 2-3) at Tarbet on Loch Fyne in Scotland; Southwold on England's East Coast holds its Festival of the Sea from the 14th-17th with traditional games and activities on the pier and promenade and in the historic old town, with traditional vessels racing to Lowestoft and around Sole Bay. Dorset remembers pirates (July 15 -17), as Portland brings to life the 16th-century heyday of these buccaneering folk; and there's seafood galore, shanties, street-theatre and music aboard vessels of all kinds in the harbour and in the old town as Scarborough in Yorkshire holds its Seafest celebrating its fishing heritage. Bristol Harbour Festival recalls the launching of the SS Great Britain with flotillas of all kinds of vessels, circus, street markets and costumed characters strolling the streets (July 23-24). Cardiff Bay, in South Wales, holds a Regatta on July 28 - 29, ending with a Caribbean-style carnival.

Weekends in August see castles across the country - Scarborough, Pendennis near Falmouth and Tynemouth among them - staging a 'Tribute to Trafalgar' with recreations of the battle, children's activities, music of 1805 and much more. On August 27, Portrush in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, shows off traditional Irish boats as part of its Festival of the Sea - and there's the chance to win a swimming or angling competition.

Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent holds the Medway Maritime Festival (August 28 - September 4), featuring concerts of the music of the sea, re-enactments and a chance to sample seafaring activities from across the centuries, its high-spot a son-et-lumière at Rochester Castle.

September sees most Trafalgar Festival commemorations taking place, with a re-enactment of Nelson's waterborne funeral procession on September 16 along the Thames as part of the Mayor of London's river festival. Nelson's home county of Norfolk, Eastern England, stages a maritime festival in Great Yarmouth (Sept. 10-11), with homage to its hero and sea-shanties, street theatre and seafood fresh from the local fishing fleet.

October has the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar, with the Trafalgar Weekend giving every town, village and community in the country the chance to join in with parties, music and dance. Trafalgar Night Dinners on or around the Oct. 21 will allow people across the world to remember the heroism and seamanship of those afloat in the age of sail and of the participants, drawn from many nations, in the battle itself.

Events continue to the end of the year: one of the final ones being a Christmas Day charity swim across the harbour in the South Coast resort of Weymouth. That dozens of foolhardy swimmers volunteer to brave the elements in the depths of winter proves that English eccentricity is alive and well and playing its part in SeaBritain 2005

Source : europeetravel.net

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