A Holiday Extravaganza

Bermuda's colourful Christmas Boat Parade signals the start of a festive season.

By Ian Coles

NOTE: Christmas Boat Parade 2008 has been canceled and will resume in 2010. For more information, please call Steve Thomson 441-292-6563.
The Christmas Boat Parade is one of the most spectacular events of Bermuda's holiday season. More than 70 craft set sail from the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and make their way past Front Street, around the foot of Hamilton Harbour and the Harbour Road shoreline to Darrell's Wharf, where the parade crosses to the Fairmont Hamilton and then heads back to the Yacht Club.

The parade is almost two miles long. Participating are more than 1,000 people aboard yachts. This is Bermuda's biggest spectator event, with an estimated 20,000 people watching from vantage points around the harbour.

The Marine and Ports tender Dragon leads the parade, with its fire hoses spraying water 70 feet up into the night sky. An unforgettable fireworks display from the middle of the harbour rounds off the evening's entertainment.

The best views for the parade are from near the flagpole on Front Street, Albouy's Point or Harbour Road. The Christmas Boat Parade is always scheduled two Saturdays before Christmas Day.

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