Land-Ho Toronto! The Tall Ships Are on Their Way.

TORONTO, ON – June 23, 2025 – The Toronto Waterfront Festival , presented by Redpath returns to Sugar Beach this weekend, June 28-29 to celebrate the start of summer. Explore the decks and meet the crews of a fleet of historical vessels, enjoy live nautical entertainment, local food and drink, interactive activities and much more!

THE FLEET

• Empire Sandy – Canada’s Largest Tall Ship.
• SV Fair Jeanne – Has sailed 150,000 nautical miles and trained over 2,000 youth.
• Lettie G. Howard – One of the last surviving 19th-century fishing schooners.
• Liberty Clipper – Named after John Hancock’s tea-smuggling ship.
• Pride of Baltimore II, presented by Menkes – Has visited over 200 ports in 40 countries.
• TS Playfair – Docking at Harbourfront Centre June 27 and 28.

PARADE OF SAIL 

DATE:  Friday, June 27, 2025

TIME:  11:00 a.m. Ships muster outside the Eastern Gap

12:00 p.m. Ships sail into the Eastern Gap and parade through the Toronto harbour before docking at Sugar Beach.

WHERE:  Ships can be seen from anywhere on the eastern part of the waterfront and on the Toronto     Islands. Ships will dock at Sugar Beach, 11 Dockside Dr.

WHAT:   Media and general public are invited to see the ships in full sail as they parade into the harbour from the Eastern Gap. Best spots to view the ships are anywhere along the eastern part of Toronto’s waterfront and the Toronto Islands, which offer excellent vantage points for this spectacular arrival.

Spokespeople for the festival will be available at Sugar Beach for interviews.

Please note, while the ships dock at Sugar Beach on Friday, the festival site will be preparing for opening day. The full Toronto Waterfront Festival experience begins Saturday, June 28th at 10:00 a.m.

TORONTO WATERFRONT FESTIVAL 

TIME:             Saturday, June 28 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, June 29 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

WHERE:         Sugar Beach (11 Dockside Drive) – Main festival location

WHAT:            

• Tour the decks of visiting ships SV Fair Jeanne, Pride of Baltimore II, presented by Menkes, Liberty Clipper and Lettie G. Howard.
• Sail aboard Empire Sandy, Canada’s largest tall ship, with four sail-aways per day including a coveted sunset sail each evening.
• See TS Playfair docked at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. on June 27 and 28.
• Catch live nautical-themed entertainment on the George Brown Stage including Tap Dancing Sailors, Fire Dancers, the HMCS York Band, Envirodrum, and Captain Finn & the Salty Sea Dogs. Roaming stilt walkers and jugglers will surprise and delight throughout the weekend.
• Enjoy a boatload of eats from local food vendors in the Billy Bishop Airport Picnic Lounge, with nautical-themed menu items like Captain’s Corn, Shark Teeth, Curry Shrimp Roti, Big Fish Baos, Sailor Cookies, Coastal Cool Lemonade, and more.
• Explore on-land activations from the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Coast Guard, Live Green Toronto, and Moccasin Identifier.

Interviews are available onsite or leading up to the event with festival producers as well as spokespeople from participating ships.

Broadcast Trucks please call Victoria Mahoney at 416-464-7606 on arrival for directions and location to park trucks.

Non-broadcast media please visit towaterfrontfest.com/faqs/ for parking information. All media are asked to check in at the information booths to receive a media badge.

For additional information on our programs and schedules, please visit towaterfrontfest.com and follow @towaterfrontfest on social media.

2025 festival partners include: Redpath Sugar, The Waterfront BIA, Billy Bishop Airport, Menkes Developments, George Brown College, Waterfront Toronto, Porter Airlines, Westin Harbour Castle, Tall Ships America, City of Toronto, Government of Ontario and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.