The International Festival of the Sea, 1996 was a maritime festival, held in and around the Floating Harbour in the English port city of Bristol. Held from 24 to 27 May 1996, it was the first of a series of International Festivals of the Sea that have since been held in various United Kingdom ports. The festival was extensively covered by BBC Television, with several live programs broadcast from the event. The coverage was presented by Peter Snow, Jill Dando and Sandi Toksvig, with additional material by Tony Robinson and Antony Worrall Thompson.