Pusser's At Glasson Maritime Weekend

Anyone UK-based who fancies a tot of Pusser's Rum over the Easter weekend should head up to the Glasson Maritime Weekend, "Lancaster District's 19th Annual Celebration of Sea Songs, Shanties and Matters Maritime", to be held April 6-9.

Pusser's will be available behind the bars and watch out for Johnny Tranter's Pusser's Rum tastings.

This event will also feature over 20 sea song and shanty performers plus Professor Chandler's & Robanti's Punch & Judy, Ancient Mariners Artizani's 'The Lifeboat' & 'The Punt' Street Theatre, Inner State Theatre Co's Nautical Dramas, Kipperland – A Celebration of The King of The Sea, Coracle Demonstrations & Displays, Ships-in-Bottles and Knot-Tying & Ropework and a display by HM Coastguard.

The festival's main sea song and shanty venue will be the Performance Marquee, located in the Canal Village, by the side of the Lancaster Canal Basin, on the eastern edge of Glasson. The weekend starts here at 7.30pm on Good Friday, with performances continuing each day, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, from mid-morning until late. The venue hosts the epic 'Last Night Do', which formally closes proceedings on the Monday night.

Glasson's Dalton Arms pub and the historic Stork Inn, nearby at Conder Green, will also be joining in the festivities. Both have sea music sessions on Good Friday night and then at various times throughout the weekend, in addition to serving real ales and food. All performances at these venues will be free of charge, except the 'Last Night Do', in the Performance Marquee.

Each afternoon, Saturday to Bank Holiday Monday, eminent folklorist Roy Palmer will be giving a maritime-themed talk in the Glasson Parish Church, starting with '1807 and all that: Songs Against Slavery' on Saturday 7th April.

Most of the remaining maritime-themed entertainments (all free) will be found in the centre of Glasson, near the dockside. Here you will find Des Newton & Eric Greenough, demonstrating ships-in-bottles and knot-tying & ropework; Punch & Judy; nautical dramas; a vast and curious array of nautical characters; the Chantey Cabin, selling the best selection of maritime music available and a great deal more. Organisers also expect to welcome a number of small historic craft, including 'Master Frank', a Ramsay half-decker, built in 1895, visiting from the Isle of Man.

This year, the focus of Lancaster District's annual Easter maritime festival will be moving 41/2 miles downstream, to the historic C18th port of Glasson Dock. Still a working port, Glasson is picturesquely located on the Lune estuary, where a branch of the Lancaster Canal meets the sea. It was here that the tall ship, Ryelands, was built in 1887, for the china clay trade. Towards the end of her days, she became a film star, appearing as The Pequod, in Moby Dick and as The Hispaniola, in Treasure Island.