Time to say goodbye

Summaries are never easy. First, because they mark the passage of time – and it’s always hard to say goodbye to our guests from around the world. We definitely prefer greetings. But on the other hand, it gives us a chance to show just how massive an undertaking it was to organize the finale of The Tall Ships Races – and how well it was executed.

Stands, zones, alleys, fairs, and amusement parks stretched across both banks of the Oder River – from the square at the Adam Mickiewicz Monument to the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Square. If we were to line them all up, they would span nearly six kilometers – including four stages. Every part of the event area was packed with attractions for the entire family, from early morning until late at night.

The turnout proved that both locals and tourists were thoroughly satisfied, and the hunger for a nautical atmosphere and sea tales remains strong. The melodies of the departing ships will echo over the water for a long time, and the memories of the concerts and countless attractions will stay with us forever.

But what we’ve witnessed over the past five days is truly the culmination of years of work by countless people. It takes immense effort and meticulous planning to make an event of this scale attractive, comfortable, and safe – for exhibitors, performers, visitors, and of course, the sailors themselves.

The experience and dedication of Szczecin’s city services have been recognized and appreciated in other ports, which is why STI has once again calmly entrusted our city with the organization of Europe’s largest sailing event. And once again, we are proud to say that The Tall Ships Races were a great success.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the crews, artists, and entertainers. Thanks to their presence and energy, this was an incredibly exciting and engaging time for our guests.

However, we must not forget about the technical teams and municipal services – without their involvement, organizing such a large-scale outdoor event would not have been possible.

The employees of municipal companies carried out a massive amount of behind-the-scenes work during The Tall Ships Races. Like ninjas, they appeared at various locations, often unnoticed, swiftly addressing challenges and solving problems as they arose throughout the event.

So let’s summarize in numbers the finale of The Tall Ships Races 2024:

• 1.3 million visitors passed through the event site from Thursday to Sunday
• 70,000 liters of water delivered to the ships and to the service and stages
• 40,000 steps per day on average walked by Liaison Officers
• 34,566 characters, 4792 words, 526 lines, 15 pages – news on the event site
• 30,000 steps per day on average traveled by staff of the Exhibitors’ Office and Press Office
• 10,000 liters of tap water secured for crews along the parade route
• 10,000 meters of cables
• 10,000 photos taken by press office photojournalists
• 7,600 entry passes
• 6,036 rolls for the crews
• 6,000 trinkets
• 3,198 donuts for the crews
• 3,108 blueberries for the crews
• 1,850 kilometers, or the distance between Szczecin and Croatia over 40 people working on behalf of ZSTW
• 1,816 printed badges
• 1,600 sailors
• 1,512 breads for the crews
• 1,200 people passed through the Sports Zone for the crews
• 1,000 sunglasses handed out at the Visit Szczecin booth
• 1,000 artists and musicians
• 800 crews visited the Crew Center
• 250 booths
• 250 journalists
• 230 ZDiTM employees at information and checkpoints
• 150 units on the Marina
• 100 electrical switchboards
• 70 liaison officers and volunteers
• 70 kilometers traveled by scooter around the event site
• 65 soldiers involved in the construction of pontoon bridges
• 65 sailboats
• 50 tents with a total area of 1250 m2
• 50 event technical staff at the time of the IWT assembly
• 26 people of continuous technical maintenance of quays and Marina
• 20 employees of technical organization of events on continuous duty
• 15 interventions of ZWiK services
• 8 TB of data ( videos and photos), or 500 flash drives of 16 GB each
• 7 beer taverns
• 6 technical vehicles of ŻSTW
• 6 drinkers
• 5 generators with a total power of 0.5 MW
• 4 music stages
• 3 water curtains
• 3h average sleep length of Liaison Officers
• 2 children’s zones
• 2 pontoon bridges
• 2 amusement parks