The Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival is this weekend in New London, with all sorts of ships coming into the Whaling City.

The Amistad will be here, as well as vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy. Visitors can tour ships, meet captains and crews, participate in a fishing clinic, and listen to music.

There will be activities specifically aimed at kids, too. A dance troupe from Hudson Valley, named the Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, will present a puppet show on Sunday at the Hygienic Art Park.

A Mermaids and Sea Monsters Parade, which is new to the festival, will step off at 2 p.m. Saturday from Bank Street, and it will end at City Pier.

The festival, which is led by OpSail Connecticut, Inc., aims to educate visitors about Connecticut’s rich maritime history. This year’s theme is “Uniting Our Shores.” Toward that end, it is supplying chances to meet military personnel and see the vessels the military uses to protect U.S. shores, and to meet people involved with various parts of the maritime industry ranging from fishing to environmental protection.

Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival, 3:30-9 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sat., and 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., downtown New London; ctmaritimefest.com.