New Orleans was the first scheduled port city for Operation Sail 2026, an America250 tall-ship celebration.
Operation Sail, often called OpSail, organizes maritime events featuring tall ships and other vessels. The 2026 edition was planned as part of the United States’ 250th-anniversary observances, with ships visiting several American ports and racing between some destinations.
The published 2026 schedule began in New Orleans from May 28 to June 1. It then listed Norfolk, Baltimore, New York City, and Boston as later port cities. The sequence gives the celebration a broad geographic reach, moving from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic seaboard.
Operation Sail is also linked to the 1976 Bicentennial, when a major gathering of tall ships took place. The 2026 event was expected to be the largest gathering of tall ships in the United States since that earlier anniversary celebration.