Falmouth is a small historic English town which managed to acommodate a myriad of tall and small ships, yachts with colourful sails and without, boats and other vessels, in fact almost anything which could float on water. The small streets of the town itself were drowned in a river of tourists. There were around two hundred thousand visitors this year who came from all over the world to witness this amazing event.
Little shops with famous cornish pasties, atmospheric tea rooms, cafe shops, mini art galleries and boutiques hardly had time to take a breather during those three days. Street musicians and actors together with thousands of colourful large and small flags created an atmosphere of fête and merriment. “Tall Guests” of the Falmouth harbour with high masts and spotless manicured decks felt the weight of hundrieds of curious viewers roaming up and down, backwards and forwards, from early morning till late evening.
The first day was gray and rainy. I went to take my first pictures but the sky was dull, people were hiding their faces underneath their rain coats and umbrellas but still queueing stubbornly to be the first to pay respects to the slowly arriving “giants”.
The second day was sunny and allowed me to take better pictures of the tall ships. Next day I sailed around the harbour on a fishermen’s boat. Locals were seizing the opportunity to make a “couple of shillings” offering guests of the town little trips around its harbour.
The carnival atmosphere lasted till late, when after a caramel august sunset, the sky turned dark navy, pierced by colourful fireworks – sending their farewell salutes to the honourable ships.
People were gathering around the pubs on the opposite side of the harbour trying to chose best points to see the fireworks. There was lots of laughter that evening.
Please click here to see more photographs of Tall ships.
Happy Browsing!
