ART lovers can be taken on a virtual stroll through the galleries of Provincetown, Massachusetts, as part of this year's Harwich Festival.

Provincetown is where the Mayflower first landed on American soil before finally ending her perilous journey at what is now New Plymouth.

Harwich and Provincetown linked up last November jointly to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the vessel’s transatlantic crossing with a special 90-minute radio programme curated by the Harwich Festival to showcase the range of musical talent presented by the festival, plus a spoken-word tour of Christopher Jones’ house and a captivating monologue on the flight of the pilgrims.

Now, the old whaling port, which has become one of the most influential artistic colonies in the United States, has returned the compliment by creating a digital exhibition specially for the Harwich Festival.

On the exclusive exhibition page on the festival's website, 40 artworks from more than 25 galleries have been selected to show the breadth and depth of Provincetown’s artistic output, its communities and its people.

Further exploration can be done with links back to Provincetown’s own website, which also gives its visitors the opportunity to learn all about Harwich.

Peter Davis, Harwich Festival's artistic director, said: “Although the Mayflower 400 celebrations are not as we hoped, I am glad the the Harwich Festival is still able to maintain its collaboration with our friends across the water.

“When we provided the radio show featuring the highlights of our 2020 online Summer Festival last November, we vowed that we would continue to strengthen the cultural bond between Provincetown and Harwich.

“Through the efforts of our volunteer Simon Ashley and our general manager, Chris Berwick, we have now been able to reciprocate by featuring a visual arts offering from artists living around the Provincetown area.

“This is a partnership we will work at and I am sure it will result in great cultural benefits for both our communities.”

The Sister Cities Exhibition runs until Thursday, August 12, at harwichfestival.com

The curtain came down on the month-long live Harwich Festival events on July 31 with a concert at St Nicholas’ Church by upcoming young band, the Emily Francis Trio.

The group’s music is a dynamic meeting of 1970s electronic jazz with prog-rock and classic cop and was led by Emily Francis on piano and a variety of keyboards, synths and gadgetry.