Tall Ships Visit Duluth This Weekend

More than 250,000 people are expected to visit the Twin Ports this weekend for the Tall Ships Duluth Festival.

Festival spokesman Ryan Whaley said about a dozen ships sailed into the Twin Ports Thursday afternoon. Whaley said he expects the El Galeon Andalucia to be the star of the show.

“That’s my opinion though,” he said. “There’s so many people who kind of fall in love with whatever ship they tend to gravitate towards. But, the El Galeon is one that is from Spain. It’s very rarely on the Great Lakes. It hasn’t been before and we don’t know if it will be again.”

The El Galeon is a replica of 17th century ships that were used to find and map trade routes between Spain, the Americas and the Philippines. The festival is expected to bring in around $15 million to the local economy and runs through Sunday.