The International Mersey River Festival will celebrate the city’s links with Dublin, with celebrations in both cities planned for May and June.

The festival on Liverpool’s waterfront, which takes place on 5-7 June, has teamed up with Dublin’s River Festival on 31 May – 1 June for a host of events on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Liverpool will host the International Canoe Polo Tournament, Irish Tall Ship apprentices for the annual Apprentice Ship Cup 2015 and a music stage dedicated to Irish music as part of its music festival celebrations.

The Liverpool festival will also showcase a model boat exhibition, a Brouhaha Homecoming Parade, wakeboarding, watersports sessions and a Yakovlevs air display. It will also host an annual raft race and the Northern Boat Show, featuring power boats, sail boats and cruisers.

A music festival, Music on the Waterfront, includes a BBC stage, while local culture centres such as Tate Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool and Open Eye Gallery will hold craft, theatre and workshop sessions.

In return a fleet of Liverpool ships will travel to Dublin and a host of Liverpool-themed activities will be planned for the Dublin River Festival.

Event manager for Liverpool’s International Mersey River Festival, Julie Turner, said: “We’ve been in talks with the Dublin team for nearly a year and I’m delighted we can twin both our events which celebrate all things maritime and music.

“Both festivals are hugely popular and we just felt that it was a really nice nod of mutual respect and appreciation for each other’s heritage if they were somehow linked.

“Liverpool’s event grows year on year and is one of the most popular in our calendar. The mix of beautiful boats on the Mersey right through to the unique street entertainment, displays and music make it a great weekend for all the family.

“And of course it’s free, so Liverpool really is the place to be from the 5-7 June.”

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