Tall Ships will return to Gloucester next spring.

City bosses have confirmed the beloved event will sail back into the city for three days of May bank holiday fun.

Emily Gibbon, Gloucester BID manager, said planning for the festival was underway with the city council and Visit Gloucester.

She said: "We are excited to welcome back the Tall Ships festival to the city.

"It's a wonderful event that celebrates the water and the heritage in the city."

Details of the event are scant but she believes it will run from May 24-26 and a post on Classic Sailing appears to confirm this.

It invites voyagers to sign for a £2,200 trip aboard a traditional Cornish Lugger dating back to 1776.

It leaves Pasaia Itsas Festibala in northern Spain on May 12 and over 11 nights passengers will be immersed in 18th Century seafaring life.

The post said: "Your destination is no less thrilling: Gloucester's Tall Ships festival, a bustling waterfront event where the Grayhound will be among the star attractions.

"Rub shoulders with sailing aficionados, tour other magnificent ships, and recount your own tales of crossing the Bay of Biscay."

Cllr Richard Cook, leader of Gloucester City Council, said: "Tall Ships is coming back.

"The date isn't 100% confirmed but it is usually the second bank holiday weekend in May."

The biennial event attracts tens of thousands of people to the docks and city centre, providing an enormous boon for Gloucester businesses.

Cllr Cook hopes the Festival next year will replicate that success: "It will be good for the economy and the city as a whole.

"We are making lots of changes to the city such as The Forum so people who haven't been here for a few years will have a lot to look at and discover."

The event was last held in 2022 over the Platinum Jubilee Weekend, after a three year break due to the pandemic.

Visitors often travel from far and wide to see the beautiful docked vessels and to enjoy three days of fun, food, and swashbuckling.

Entertainment at the last festival included sand sculptures, a vintage funfair and music stages as well as a dockside beach built by The Canal and River Trust.