The Victoria Tall Ships Society seeks to enhance the awareness of the rich maritime history of Victoria and the strong links which British Columbia, Canada, has with the sea.  A key constitutional objective of the society is to provide youth with life affirming experiences while sailing in traditionally rigged vessels.

Even though the 2011 Festival of Tall Ships was cancelled, at least 6 visiting Tall Ships graced the Victoria BC inner harbour.  With this unexpected abundance of tall ships, we proceeded with a number of objectives, primarily in the area of Youth Outreach - see the Youth Outreach Media Release here.

Of the visiting ships, one of the largest was the magnificent Russian Sail Training Ship Pallada (Паллада) - a 354 foot, fully rigged, three-masted frigate. Although the Victoria Tall Ships Society was not officially hosting the STS “Pallada”, we were asked to co-ordinate the vessel’s visit to Victoria and supply volunteers to assist the crew to open the ship to the general public.  Many will remember seeing this impressive vessel when she took part in the 2005 Victoria Tall Ships Festival. It’s clear the “Pallada” crew enjoyed its time in Victoria so much in 2005 that they decided to make a goodwill visit in 2011!

We expect to announce plans for the next festival soon.