Maritime Heritage Festival & Flotilla
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
The 2027 Maritime Heritage Festival will be held on Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 July.
Boats will arrive on the afternoon tide on Friday 16 July. The Flotilla Spectacle will be at 4.30 on Saturday 17 July. More details soon....
This is what happened in 2026....
The annual Maritime Heritage Festival and Flotilla 2026, hosted by charity Rescue Wooden Boats took place in June in Wells -next-the-Sea, Tugboat Yard, East Quay NR23 1GA with the Flotilla led by our flagship Lucy Lavers, to the harbour mouth and returning to a sea shanty welcome.
The Duke of Edinburgh lifeboat did a fantastic display before the Flotilla set off thank you do much to Wells Lifeboat Station and volunteers! wonderful seeing the contrast between two lifeboats eight decades apart.
The Maritime Heritage Festival is the essence of what Rescue Wooden Boats aims to do – bring together the historic wooden local working boats afloat, with the families who built and worked them, and tell and share their stories with others and different generations. The hundreds who come along to the event enjoy history in action afloat.
There was:
- Local historic wooden boats on display afloat with their histories on the green at Tugboat Yard, East Quay, Wells-next-the-Sea, NR23 1GA
- A spectacular Flotilla when the boats all steamed out to the harbour mouth and back, returning to a sea shanty welcome.
- The Wells Shannon lifeboat Duke of Edinburgh visited the heritage boats and gave a short display before the Flotilla set off.
- Rescue Wooden Boats Maritime Heritage stall with information and merchandise
- We also had a display to mark David Hewitt’s 50 years in 2026 as a renowned local wooden boatbuilder
- Wells Sea Cadets had a display and a boat on view on Saturday
- A display and workshop of knot tying and rope work by very popular Andy McBride
- Gansey (traditional fishermen jerseys) knitters showed what they do
- A licensed bar, tea, coffee and cake
- There was live music over the weekend from: Nelson Shantymen, Sheringham Shantymen, Blakeney Old Wild Rovers and the Castaway Crew
Wells Sailing Club hosted a Sharpie Open Meeting so we were able to catch sight of a fleet of stunning historic wooden Sharpies going past.
Take a look at our gallery of photographs from the 2024 event.
Maritime Festival & Flotilla 2024
