The popular Christmas boat parade will be back on December 12 to celebrate the Island's 400th anniversary year.

The parade took a break in 2008 after celebrating its tenth year due to declining numbers of participants.

The inaugural year saw 70 vessels decorated with festive or topical themes float their way around the inner part of Hamilton Harbour. 2007 however, saw just 44 participants, although the event still drew thousands of spectators.

The organisers therefore decided to take a break in order to come back bigger and better than ever as the grand finale of Bermuda's anniversary celebrations.

Event founder Norma Thomson said: "The one year that we took off we did hear rumours that people were upset and disappointed, but we wanted to give it a break for a year and give people a chance to gather up their energy again.

"Given this is the 400th anniversary we wanted the full support of the community.

"So far, people are excited and happy to hear it's back this year. We know we're asking a lot of people to put work into this at a very busy time of year but it's a wonderful family event that's become a tradition in Bermuda.

"Kids love it and people love to see the fireworks and plan their parties around it."

Ms Thomson hopes to see 50-100 boats out on the water for the event this year which starts at 6.30 p.m. and ends with a display of fireworks around 8.15 p.m.

The grand prize for the best decorated boat is a trip for two to Puerto Rico, and those signing up soon are eligible for an early bird prize of two round-trip tickets to anywhere in the US.

Full information is available on the website www.bermudaboatparade.bm.