Tall Ships Fireworks
From June 1-12, the Port of Virginia will celebrate Opsail 2012 Virginia™, a collaboration between Operation Sail, Inc®, national, the United States Navy, Festevents and hundreds of national, state and local organizations. The event commemorates the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812 and the writing of our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.
OpSail, Inc® has staged five previous American milestone events such as the 1964 World’s Fair, the 1976 bicentennial of American independence, the 1986 State of Liberty centennial, the 1992 Columbus Quincentennial, and the Millennium in 2000.
The OpSail 2012® multi-port commemoration begins in April in New Orleans. Other cities involved include New York, Baltimore, and Boston.
For Americans, the War of 1812 played an important part in our nation’s development. Often referred to as a second war for independence, the conflict began over maritime disputes between the United States and Great Britain.
Emerging from the war, Americans had a new sense of national pride. It was from this conflict that this nation gained the Star Spangled Banner.
Pride of Baltimore
