The Tall Ships come to Aberdeen

Picture this: it’s July 2023 and your boyfriend of 7 years tells you he has a surprise and to keep your Saturday free. You start picturing all sorts of things, he gives nothing away. On the day he takes you down to the harbour, (okay?), and you join a queue in the middle of Regent Quay. Once through the barriers he points at a ship and says: ‘ta da!’. 

Me on board a tall ship in 2023.

I blinked. Two ships sat in the dock, ships like I had never seen before. I didn’t know what they were doing there but from the buzz that surrounded me in the crowd and the masts visible for miles, I knew they were something special. The vessels from Norway and Indonesia were visiting Aberdeen to mark two years until the Tall Ships race came to town. Since this first, slightly unexpected, encounter, that initial ripple of excitement has grown to a roar of energy that’s been running through the city for the past 24 months. This weekend it lets loose.

In case you haven’t heard, the Tall Ships will be in here from Friday 19^th July to Monday 22^nd July 2025. They set sail on Tuesday morning and there’s a full programme of events scheduled over four days. The website is thorough and there is an official programme but, with so much on offer, it can be hard to know where to start. I decided to ask my fellow committee members what their plans are to get an idea of what they'll be up to this weekend. 

AYP chair, Katie, plans on spending her Saturday visiting the Curated on the Quayside market, checking out the marvellous food restaurants on show and watching the amazing street performers exhibiting throughout the day.

The ships are impressive - and huge!

Leigh-Anne, our deputy chair, is deep in the throes of wedding season in her job so will be soaking in the brilliant vibe of Aberdeen from her office on Union Street. I hope any wedding guests know to expect potential travel delays on Saturday! She’ll enjoy some well-deserved time off to see Kaiser Chiefs perform on Monday. 

Aberdeen will be full of live music, dancing and performance over the weekend, with two bespoke stages built on the quayside to accommodate the jam-packed programme of events. Our sponsorship lead, Robert, is lined up to see his friend’s band the Gerry Jablonski Band play at the Transit stage on Saturday at 17:05.

Our events lead, Ellen, will be working the weekend, supporting Mearns & Gill with deck hires alongside Jamieson & Carry and TotalEnergies. Deck hires refer to businesses and individuals renting the deck space of a participating tall ship for hosting events or providing hospitality during the festival. Hope you can grab a few canapés too, Ellen! 

Tall ships from around the world will be docked in Aberdeen this weekend.

It’s an extra big weekend for general member Heather as she turns 30 on Saturday. She says “I couldn’t be happier that it falls on such a special weekend for Aberdeen with the Tall Ships in town! I’m really looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere and heading to some of the events with my family, especially the Red Arrows fly past, which is always incredible. I’m also hoping to step aboard one of the ships while they’re docked. To top it all off, I’ll be seeing one of my favourite bands, Tide Lines, for the 12th time on Sunday night down by the quayside, what a way to round off a birthday weekend!” Many happy returns, Heather.

As for my plans, I’m heading to Aberdeen Art Gallery to see their Monsters of the Deep exhibition. I’ve taken Monday off work to make the most of the festivities and have blocked time in my calendar on Tuesday to watch the ships leave from the top floor of the Sir Duncan Rice Library. All in all it’s going to be a mega weekend with 400,000 people expected to turn out and view this spectacle. We hope to SEA you there.