Tacoma has a long and interesting history of maritime commerce, development and lore. The City of Destiny's official motto is even, "where rails meet sails," reflecting a dedication to the waterfront as a necessary and much-loved part of the city's growth.

This week, Festival of Sail Tacoma 2017 will reconnect Tacoma residents with the city's maritime roots as it brings four days of sailing, live entertainment, food, and educational programs to the Thea Foss Waterway.

"Tacoma was founded as a maritime community, and the port, the railway, and the city of Tacoma were all founded at almost the same time," explained Wesley Wenhardt, executive director, Foss Waterway Seaport. "I think one thing we really want is for people to get back in touch with their waterfront."

The Festival of Sail begins Thursday, June 15, and continues through Sunday, June 18. It'll include tall ship tours, day sails across Commencement Bay, educational programs and activities for children, local food vendors and live, family friendly entertainment. One of the main attractions will be the Parade of Sail, which will take place Thursday afternoon and include nearly 25 ships from around the world.

"The ships will line the waterfront for almost a mile, anchored in the south with a big rubber ducky and in the north at Thea's Park," said Wenhardt. "There's a special feeling when you go on the water and see Tacoma from out there. We're hoping to build up more of a community on the water."

Many of the participating ships will have location tracking enabled prior to and during the festival to allow the public to follow the ships' progress as they navigate toward Tacoma.

Throughout the festival, a shuttle will run between the Museum of Glass, which is the event's southern anchor, and Thea's Park, the northern anchor.

Local vendors, including The Mobile Social Grill, Lumpia World, Fisher Fair Scones, Baja Smoothies, Smith Brothers Farms, and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, will sell food and drink along the waterfront. Musical entertainment will be provided by 15 musicians and bands, including Cosmos Dream, Acoustic Nautilus, Big Time Rhythm, The Totem Aires, Mr. Blackwatch, MEZZE, and Almost Blue. A special, free performance by Symphony Tacoma is scheduled Saturday afternoon.

"We started planning for this in September 2014," said Craig Samborski, Festival of Sail producer. Samborski, who's based out of Minnesota, has been coming to Tacoma every six weeks to coordinate the festival.

The tall ship event is only the third of its kind to be held in Tacoma.

"This will be a weekend of fun and education about sailing tall ships, the role they played in our history in commerce and the romance of sailing," Samborski said.

Family friendly activities will include magic shows, a full-size pirate ship reserved for children's make-believe pirate bouts, historical and interactive presentations about the Golden Age of Piracy, and an interactive Black Powder Show, in which pistols, rifles and cannons will be fired off.

Throughout the festival, the world's largest rubber duck will be floating on the Foss Waterway.

"We want to say ‘Tacoma, this is your waterfront, come back to the water where it all started,'" concluded Wenhardt. "‘Come connect to the ships, the workers and the port of Tacoma, which helped shape the Puget Sound into the region it is today.'"

Festival of Sail, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday-Sunday, June 15-18, Thea Foss Waterway, free, Tacoma, festofsailtacoma.com