Our Programme for the 2026 Festival is packed with a wide variety of exciting maritime events.

Programme of events at Harwich Museum.

1200-1300pm

1907 The Loss of GER Railway Ships Berlin & Yarmouth

A talk by David Whittle about the loss of two Great Eastern Railway ships in 1907. Both were passenger steamships from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. Ticketed Event £5

Berlin was only carrying 90 passengers and 53 crew when she left Harwich at 22:00 on 20 February 1907,under the command of Captain John Precious. She immediately ran into a north-westerly gale but nevertheless made good progress through the night and was approaching the New Waterway about 05:00.

The SS Yarmouth was built in 1903 at Dundee and was a twin-screwed steel vessel of 805 tons, 245 ft long and a speed of 14 knots. In command was Captain Alfred John Avis, an experienced master with 25 years’ service. The Yarmouth was carrying 443 tons of cargo of which 192 tons was meat, plus three furniture vans of about 3 tons each which were placed on the main deck at The Hook of Holland.

1400-1500pm

 Hooligans Rule

Hooligan’s Rule are based in Brixham, Devon. They sing songs and play music with a nautical/pirate/folk/Celtic theme on guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bodhran.

They have performed at several pirate festivals including Brixham, Pirates in the Port and Newport and have also played at many maritime festivals in the UK both locally and further afield. 

Programmes are Now available from Harwich Museum

Celebrating the songs of the sea