Events have been lined up to celebrate the arrival of 19 tall ships in Bermuda as part of The Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta.

These will include festivals in both St George’s and Hamilton to welcome the ships later this month, as well as an art walk and a concert by Bermuda’s own Collie Buddz.

“It’s going to be an amazing time and both St George’s and Hamilton will be buzzing. The ships will be open to visitors, the city will be busy and alive with fun things to do,” Craig Nikolai, project manager at Tall Ships Bermuda 2017 & Sail Training Association of Bermuda, said.

“I hope everyone has a great time and enters into the spirit of the occasion and give the trainees on board the ships and crew a fantastic and warm welcome.”

The ships taking part in the 7,000 nautical mile trans-Atlantic race are due to arrive in St George’s from May 26.

They will move on to Hamilton on June 1 before leaving for the Island for the next leg of the voyage on June 5 to Boston.

Among the events planned for May 27 are an Onion Day at Carter House in St David’s from 12pm to 4pm, and an art walk in St George’s from 1pm to 6pm.

A cultural day will be held in St George’s from 10am to 4pm on May 30 and a Welcome to Bermuda Festival will be held at Penno’s Wharf in St George’s from 6pm to 10pm the next day.

On June 1, a welcome street festival will be held from 7pm to 11pm on Front Street.

The following day, there will be a concert by Collie Buddz at City Hall car park, with part of the proceeds going to Sail Training Bermuda. Tickets can be purchased via www.ptix.bm.

On June 3, there will be a crew parade on Front Street starting at 6.30pm and there will be a Bon Voyage Street Festival on Front Street from 2pm to 9pm on June 4 on Sunday, June 4, from 2pm to 9pm.

Lastly, there will be a Parade of Sail on June 5 starting at 9am in Hamilton as the ships leave to sail to the US.

Mr Nikolai also reiterated that there was still time for trainees, aged 16 and over, to sign up to join other legs of the voyage. Anyone interested can e-mail trainee@tallships.bm