Road closures announced for Sunderland's Tall Ships festival

And residents and visitors are being urged to take note and plan their journeys in advance.

From July 11 to July 14, the city will welcome up to 1.5million visitors keen to see the 55 ships taking part and enjoy a packed schedule of music, theatre, circus and dance.

On Thursday, July 12, a Crew Parade of sailors and young people from around the world will start at Burdon Road and make its way to St Peter’s Campus, resulting in the closures of Burdon Road and Park Road for the afternoon.

These closures will be rolled out along the parade route up to the Wearmouth Bridge from 2.30pm, taking in Fawcett Street, Bridge Street, Borough Road and streets connected to the route. Roads will re-open as the parade passes.

Wearmouth Bridge, St Mary’s and West Wear Street will be closed between 3pm and 4.30pm with roads re-opening after the crew parade arrives at St Peter’s Campus.

One of the highlights of the festival will be a breath-taking world record attempt by three performers from Cirque Bijou, who will cross the River Wear on a high wire without a safety net, on Friday, July 13, at around 9pm.

That evening, Wearmouth Bridge, St Mary’s and West Wear Street will be closed completely for the Cirque Bijou performance.

On the final day of the event, Saturday, July 14,, the A183 Roker Terrace/Whitburn Road will be closed from early morning until late at night between the Bungalow Café and Morrisons roundabout.

Throughout the event the streets closest to the event zones will be subject to permit closures, to allow access for residents and businesses. Visitors should use the variety of event parking options available.

Coun Amy Wilson, Sunderland City Council Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport, said: “It goes without saying that we have done everything we possibly can to ensure there is minimum disruption for residents,

“Our aim is to ensure everyone can move around safely and, as we are expecting more than one million visitors to the event during the five days, we would urge people to do a little forward planning.” Event organisers are working with public transport providers to increase their train, Metro and bus capacity during the event.

Bookings for Park and Ride, Park and Walk, coach and Blue Badge parking are now open online. For further information visit www.tallshipssunderland.com/shop/parking