New Daily Visitor Record in the History of The Tall Ships Races in Turku Set – Event Arrangements Are Collecting Praise
23.07.2024
The Tall Ships Races Turku 2024 event attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors during the past week. On Saturday 20 July, an all-time daily attendance record of the events in Turku was set, when up to 150 000 event goers visited the area. Despite the large crowds, issues with traffic and public order remained close to zero.
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Photo: Rabbit Visuals
The Tall Ships Races event area was visited in large numbers before the event itself even started. On Tuesday, 8 000 people visited the area, and 12 000 on Wednesday alone.
On the opening day on Thursday, around 40 000 people visited the area, and on Friday, the visitor numbers rose to around 90 000. However, the record number of visitors was not set until Saturday, when the river port area was visited by 150 000 people.
On Sunday, a total of around 80 000 people watched the ships leave: 50 000 in the Aura River area, 20 000 in Ruissalo and 10 000 at sea in boats and ships. In total, around 380 000 visitors attended The Tall Ships Races in Turku during the week.
In addition, the two-day music festival Slot Festival, organised for the first time in conjunction with the event, attracted 12 000 visitors to Turku Castle Park to jam to the tunes of international artists from the 90s and 00s.
According to Project Manager Kimmo Hyyppä, the original goal of 400–500 thousand visitors was cut short partly due to the rainy and unstable weather. However, from the organisers’ point of view, the event was a great success overall.
– Saturday’s attendance left us astonished. We have never seen such crowds in one day, Hyyppä says.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of visitors, a total of 61 tall ships and their crews from 16 different countries took part in the event.
Turku’s Vast Experience as an Organiser of The Tall Ships Races Evident as Always
A high number of visitors was expected and taken into account in the event’s traffic arrangements. According to the organisers, traffic flowed smoothly, and major traffic jams were avoided. Access to the area was facilitated by, for example, the provision of an interchange parking area in the Fair Center courtyard, from where motorists could take a direct bus ride to the event area.
– We have received high praise from the police for the successful arrangements. The police recorded a mere ten incidents during the whole event. Such an insignificant number is exceptional for an event of this size, says Kimmo Hyyppä.
The Tall Ships Races will be the subject of a comprehensive audience survey, which will reveal, among other things, the regional economic impact of the event. The results of the study will be available in autumn 2024.
The Anchor Port Agreement signed last week between the City of Turku and Sail Training International means that the tall ships will next be seen in Turku in 2028 and 2032. However, the next international maritime event is already right around the corner, as the World Championship Regatta for the Class 8mR will be held in Turku for the first time in the summer of 2025.