Plymouth’s Ocean City Festival 2016

11th – 25th September

Ocean City Festival is returning for its fifth year, sponsored by City College Plymouth, with over thirty spectacular events taking place across the city. This two-week long festival is a celebration of Plymouth’s waterfront location and its connection with the sea, with events for all ages offering a real variety of education, marine science and technology, seafood and maritime cultural events, with lots of activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Our Top Picks:

Credit: Lucy Blake

IMECHE Cardboard Boat Race
Sunday 11th / 10am – 5pm

The festival kicks off on 11th September with the challengingly fun IMECHE Cardboard Boat Race – entrants make boats out of cardboard and sticky tape with the winner being the boat staying afloat the longest. New this year will be a pre-built category.

PDSSA Boathouse, Commercial Wharf, PL1 2NX

Plymouth RNLI Lifeboat Open Day
Sunday 11th / 12pm – 4pm

Also, the Plymouth RNLI will be holding an open day including a tour of a lifeboat. The Sea Portraits Exhibition gets underway and there will be regular tours of the Royal Citadel.

Royal William Yard, PL1 3RP

STEMFest
12th – 16th (primary years 2-6)
19th – 22nd (secondary key stage 3)
23rd (Home Education day ages 6-14)

Pupils from schools throughout the South West will be taking part in the National Marine Aquarium’s fifth annual STEMFest with a series of interactive workshops, events and activities with a science, technology, engineering and maths theme. Tickets £7.50

National Marine Aquarium, PL4 0LF

Open Air Cinema
Thursday 15th – The Big Lebowski (18)
Friday 16th – Dirty Dancing (12)
Saturday 17th – Ghostbusters (15)

It’s the return of the Open Air Cinema at the Royal William Yard, with a showing of this year’s smash hit Ghostbusters! Also includes a bar offering wine, beer, soft drinks and cinema snacks. £8 standard ticket, also VIP available. 9pm start, doors at 7pm.

Royal William Yard, PL1 3RP

Meridian Festival
16th, 17th & 18th

Meridian Festival is a celebration of music and storytelling from different cultures and faiths on the theme of the sea. A very unique event bringing together talented artists.

Plymouth Unitarian Church, Notte Street, PL1 2HG

Family Fun at Frankfort Gate
Saturday 17th / 11am – 3pm

Have some family fun in Frankfort Gate and get involved with arts and crafts. Enjoy Mount Batten Watersport’s land-based kayak and meet some creepy critters from Dartmoor Zoo.

Frankfort Gate, PL1 1QA

Introduction to Marine Mammal Research
Saturday 17th – Sunday 18th

Be a marine biologist and discover the methods used to study the underwater world. Have an on-board boat experience as well as different scientific surveying methods, such as photographic identification and passive acoustic monitoring.
Visit www.oceancityfestival.co.uk for boat times and booking details.

Royal William Yard, PL1 3RP

Plymouth Seafood Festival
Saturday 24th – Sunday 25th

Sutton Harbour and The Barbican will come alive with locally caught seafood as part of the annual Seafood Festival. Free to attend!

Sutton Harbour and The Barbican

The Barbican Raft Race
Thursday 25th / 4pm

The barbican raft race is back in force! Watch teams battle on the water in a bid to win the race and raise money for Jeremiah’s Journey! Free for spectators.

Mayflower Steps, Commercial Wharf, PL1 2LR

Visit: www.oceancityfestival.co.uk for more information and a full programme of events.