Canada's largest wooden boat festival is set to launch on Thursday, August 1 with a reception and dinner for registered boaters, followed by three days of exciting and educational events and activities. From demonstrations by Nova Scotia's top wooden boatbuilders, to the hilarious 'Fast and Furious' boat races (where participants build their own boats in two hours, then race them in the harbour), the Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival offers something fun for everyone.

Visitors to the Festival can take a guided tour of the harbour for a close-up look at the fleet of wooden vessels gathered there, and view displays and remote-controlled demonstrations of model ships. There are workshops and a parade geared to families and children, and a street dance, 'refreshment tent' and live entertainment for the adults. Bluenose II will grace the Festival this year, and of course, there will be the re-enactment of the legendary burning of The Teazer, the privateer vessel torched by a British deserter aboard to escape a British man-o'-war, which had pursued and trapped the vessel in Mahone Bay in 1813. Since then, witnesses all along the coast have reported its ghostly appearance, as a ship or a ball of fire that blazes on and off.

The Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival is a unique event that has celebrated the centuries-old boatbuilding tradition of this picturesque area for 13 years. Moorings and docking facilities are available in Mahone Bay Harbour for people traveling to the Festival in their own boats. There are also many lovely bed & breakfasts, inns, cottages and motels in the area, as well as numerous cafes, pubs and fine dining establishments in the Town of Mahone Bay and the nearby towns of Chester and Lunenburg (where there are yacht club and marina facilities). Mahone Bay itself is a large, well-protected bay with hundreds of islands and numerous quaint coastal villages to explore, making it one of the finest cruising areas in Nova Scotia.

For more information about the Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival, call (902) 624-0348 or go to www.woodenboatfestival.org