Celebrate Labor Day Weekend with a panoramic adventure off the coast of Cape Ann. Come witness competitive drama on the high seas at the 27th Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival!
Celebrate!
Gloucester, the oldest fishing port on the Atlantic coast, hosts a fantastic weekend-long event to celebrate Gloucester’s fishing history. The festival both recognizes and honors the classic fishing schooners of long ago, by featuring the last of the remaining vessels and their replicas.
Full sail!
Each day of the festival is filled with diversity — including the Boat Parade of Lights, Fireworks Over Gloucester Harbor, and the Parade of Sail. The weekend culminates with the Mayor’s Race for the Esperanto Cup, an exciting event featuring large schooners greater than 80 feet in length. The best way to plan your weekend is to check out the complete Festival Schedule. There’s something for everyone!
Eastern Point Light
As a photographer, I’ve found a variety of locations surrounding the festival that offer fantastic photographic opportunities — both in terms of subject matter to capture, as well as vantage points from which to shoot. My favorite places include The Boulevard along Gloucester Harbor, Eastern Point Light, and especially the Dog Bar Breakwater.
Dog Bar Breakwater
My love of the nearly half-mile long granite Dog Bar Breakwater centers on the Mayor’s Race for the Esperanto Cup, a trophy from the first international Fisherman’s Race sailed in 1920. I feel there’s nowhere better to capture the large schooners as they leave the safety of the harbor for the racing field of the open sea than this extended platform. Your observation — and shooting — field is nearly 360 degrees!
Hammond Castle backdrop
This photographer considers the Dog Bar Breakwater a dream location, for background visuals also include Hammond Castle and the Boston Skyline.
Schooners jockey for position
On a historical note, the scattered remains of the 126-foot Ellenora Van Dusen rest inside the outer end of the granite breakwater, which covers a dangerous reef known as Dog Bar (thus the breakwater’s name).
Everything is a part of history here, and the festival never disappoints. What better way to end the summer than at the coastline with an ocean breeze and a bevy of full sails…
