Tall Ships Erie 2013 presented by Highmark and Perry 200, will take place September 5th through 8th, 2013. This year, marks the 200th anniversary of the building of Commodore Perry’s fleet in Erie, Pa and his victory at the Battle of Lake Erie off Put-in-Bay, Ohio on September 10th. This year with the addition of three more ships, making a total of nine, there will be an expected 60-70,000 visitors to view the Parade of Sail and tour the ships during this event. The event is expected to produce almost $6.5 million into the Erie economy.

Approximately 75 vendors will stationed at the Bayfront Convention Center selling festival market place items such as wine, beach glass, jewelry, etc. There will be entertainment throughout the weekend including bands, Labatt Blue Beer Garden, kid zone, and lecture series-sponsored by Mercyhurst University. Our official hotel sponsor is the Bel-Aire Clarion and Comfort Inn Presque Isle, offering packages for Tall Ships Erie weekend, which will include: $25 dollars Victor’s gift certificate, breakfast for four (4), four (4) tickets to Tall Ships Erie, and four (4) lighthouse tours.

The last Tall Ships Festival was in 2010 and brought six tall ships to Erie. More than 32,000 visitors attended Tall Ships Erie 2010, Erie’s first large-scale tall ships festival in more than a decade. During the Parade of Sail which took place in Presque Isle Bay on Thursday, September 9, 10,000 visitors crammed the shores of the bay in downtown Erie and on Presque Isle State Park while another 22,000 ticketed visitors attended the festival and toured the ships while docked at Dobbins Landing and the Erie Maritime Museum. The event generated more than $220,000 in profit for the Flagship Niagara League.

Tall Ships Erie 2013 Schedule of Events

Thursday, September 5
4pm- Parade of Sail- Erie’s Bayfront
9:30pm- Firework Display on Bayfront

Friday, September 6
9:00-2:30pm- School Ship Tours
2:30-6:00pm- Public Ship Tours

Saturday, September 7
10-6pm- Public Ship Tours, Entertainment

Sunday, September 8
10-6pm- Public Ship Tours, Entertainment

E Shuttle Service Locations:
• East Erie Pier
• Liberty Park
• Park & Ride 12th & Weschler
• Parking ramps on 7th & Peach
• Also continuous shuttle from the Erie Maritime Museum, to the Convention Center during all Tall Ships General Admission hours.

Labatt Blue Beer Garden Entertainment Schedule (Bayfront Convention Center)

Friday, September 6
3-4pm Captain Tom Kastle
4-5pm Lee Murdock

Saturday, September 7
11am-12noon- Lee Murdock
12noon-1pm- Hardtackers
1-2pm- Mark Beery
2-3pm- Lee Murdock
3-4pm- Hardtackers
4-5pm- Mark Beery

Sunday, September 8
12noon-1pm- Mark Beery
1-2pm- Good for Nuthin’ String Band
2-3pm- Captain Tom Kastle
3-4pm- Mark Beery
4-5pm- Lee Murdock

Mercyhurst University Video & Lecture Series (Bayfront Convention Center)

Saturday, September 7
11am-12noon- Erie Zoo Lecture “Great Lakes Creatures”
12noon-1pm- Captain Tom Kastle “Maritime Music & History”
1-2pm- Mr. Brian Dunnigan “Troubled Waters”
2-3pm- Sr. Captain Walker Rybka “Battle of Lake Erie”
3-4pm- Mr. Don Graves “A modest Canadian view of the War of 1812”
4-5pm- Mr. Brian Dunningan “Uncorking the Truth”
5-6pm- Documentary/MovieTBD

Sunday, September 8
11am-12pm- Captain Tom Kastle “Maritime Music & History”
12noon-1pm- Video- “Dobbins Memoirs”
1-2pm- Dr. William Garvey “Elliot vs. Perry Controversy”
2-3pm- Niagara 2013 Bicentennial Season Recap”
3-4pm- Sr. Captain Walter Rybka “Niagara History”
4-5pm- Captain Tom Kastle “Maritime Music & History”
5-6pm- Documentary/MovieTBD

Gannon University, the Erie Playhouse, and the Flagship Niagara League present: FORTUNATE VICTORY

Written by: Erie native Alexander O. Clemente
Adapted for the 2013 Tall Ships Erie by Rev. Shawn Clerkin, Gannon University Associate Professor of Communication and Fine Arts and Director of Theatre
Original Score by: Andrew Rainbow
Lyrics by: Rev. Shawn Clerkin
Video created by: MoreFrames Animation of Erie
Produced by: Almitra Clerkin, Executive Director, Erie Playhouse, and Shawn Waskiewicz, Executive Director, Flagship Niagara

FORTUNATE VICTORY is the hearty and spirited story of the resolve and tenacity of Oliver Hazard Perry, Daniel Dobbins, Jesse Elliot, Commodore Chauncey and the men and women of Erie in the early 19th century who built and sailed the Great Lakes fleet that would defeat the British in a naval and moral victory on Lake Erie in 1813. The story is centered on historical records and real-life heroes interwoven with fictional dialogue and situations.

In collaboration with the majesty of the 2013 Tall Ships Erie celebration, join the Erie Playhouse, Gannon University Schuster Theatre, and the Flagship Niagara as we bring the characters of Erie’s history to life 
on the Hirt Auditorium stage at the Blasco Library (just east of Dobbins Landing in the heart of Erie) in this 45-minute, multi-media musical play, September 6 - 8, 2013.

FORTUNATE VICTORY highlights include the animated battle sequence, the Victory Anthem, written by Andrew Rainbow and Rev. Clerkin, and the origination of the ‘Don’t Give Up the Ship’ flag. The recreated battle scene and anthem were last seen and heard in the Erie Playhouse Perry 200 Commemoration Pageant The Spirit of Erie in June of 2013.

School and Senior Groups Performances:

Friday, September 6, 2013
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM (Performance, followed by Ship Tour)
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM (Ship Tour, followed by Performance)
$10/Ticket includes show and ship tour (Suggested for Grades 4 through 12)

School group reservations can be made by calling the Erie Playhouse Box Office, 814.454.2852, ext. 0 or [email protected], or check out www.erieplayhouse.org for more information.

Public Performances - $5 - Show only tickets:

Friday, September 6
2:00pm

Saturday, September 7
11am, 12:30pm and 2:00pm

Sunday, September 8
12:30pm and 2:00pm