Ghost Ships Festival 2024

Founded in 2000, the festival attracts explorers of all ages who wish to learn more about the nautical time-capsules preserved in the cold, fresh water of the Great Lakes. The Lakes have preserved the remains of thousands of lost ships, including everything from working tug boats to giant four masted sailing schooners and lavish passenger steamships. Today, their remains lie in the clear depths of the Lakes, often undiscovered for centuries.

The Ghost Ships Festival treats attendees to a wide range of technologies, exhibits, artists, musicians, scuba divers and explorers whose work focuses on Great Lakes shipwrecks.

• Take a virtual walk down the deck of newly discovered lost ships through the magic of 3D virtual reality headsets.
• Visit exhibits and attend performances by Great Lakes maritime artists and musicians.
• See hands-on exhibits of the technologies used to locate, document and tell the stories of lost Great Lakes ships. Exhibits feature side scanning sonar, remote operated vehicles and 3D photogrammetry.
• Attend presentations from professional underwater archeologists whose job it is to record, preserve and tell the stories of historic shipwreck sites.
• Hear talks by the explorers and wreckhunters who spend their summers on the water searching for and finding historic lost ships on the Great Lakes.
• Be the first to learn of a major new shipwreck discovery on Lake Superior, as wreckhunters reveal a new a deep new wrecksite, live at the festival.

Advance tickets for the full, two-day event are available at www.ghostshipsfestival.com for $20 or can be purchased at the door for $25. People under 18 will be admitted for free.

All events will be held at the Inn on Maritime Bay, 101 Maritime Dr., Manitowoc, WI. All attendees will receive a $5 discount on admission to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, which is adjacent to the hotel. When booking a room, be sure to ask for the Ghost Ships Festival rate or use discount code TE321R.

Exhibitors/Booths/Sponsors:

• Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association
• Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary
• Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
• Wisconsin Historical Society Maritime Archeology Program
• Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society
• Great Lakes Shipwreck Archaeology
• Underwater Archeology Society of Chicago
• Wisconsin Maritime Museum
• Association for Great Lakes Maritime History
• Lake Superior Maritime Museum Association
• Michigan Underwater Preserve Council
• Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve
• Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
• Chicago Scuba Meetup
• Shipwreck Adventures, LLC
• Loves Park Scuba
• Shipwreck Explorers – Capt. Jitka Hanakova
• Below the Grade Scuba / Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival
• DESCO – Commercial Dive Equipment
• Tony Strublic – Maritime Artist
• Lee Murdock – Great Lake Storyteller and Musician
• Yvonne Drebert & Zach Melnick – Inspired Planet Productions