The Kiel Week or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is considered to be one of the largest sailing events globally, and also the largest summer festivals in Northern Europe, attracting millions of people every year from all over Germany and neighbouring countries. Together with the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, Semaine Olympique Française, and Allianz Regatta regattas, Kiel Week is part of the Sailing World Cup in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Events

Kiel Week is held annually in the last week in June, and opens officially on the preceding Saturday with the official Glaser, followed by the Holstenbummel. The "Soundcheck" is on the Friday before the official opening; it is a music festival across all the stages within the city. Kiel Week, ends with a large fireworks display at 11 p.m. on Sunday, fired from pontoons or the quays at the Howaldtswerke, visible all across the Bay of Kiel. There are also many minigames Most ship races begin at the Olympic Harbor of Schilksee, also the centre of most sporting activities during Kiel Week. As Schilksee is located outside of the inner city and most sailing competitions take place yet further out, only some races – mainly of smaller boat types – can be viewed from shore, namely from along the Kiellinie at the west coast of the Bay of Kiel. Kiel Week usually gathers around 5,000 sailors, 2,000 ships, and about three million visitors each year. The event is organized in a joint effort by the Yacht Club of Kiel, the Norddeutscher Regattaverein, the Hamburger Sailing Club, and the Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee. While Kiel Week started out as a ship racing championship, it has long since become a large festival with many popular bands playing on public stages. They often play for free, although the corporate sponsors (many from the Schleswig-Holstein media and telecommunications industry) usually display their involvement prominently. Most of the stages can be found at the Kiellinie (the western side of the Kieler Förde from the Düsternbrook yacht harbour past the Schleswig-Holstein parliament building to the big inner-city ferry harbour), and as of late, across the Hoernbridge to the Germania harbour and the Hörn. Another area of rich cultural activity in the city centre (Rathausplatz, Holstenbrücke) and the area connecting the city centre with the ferry harbour (Alter Markt, Dänische Straße, Schloßpark). Between the public stages and especially on the International Market on the Rathausplatz, food specialties from different countries can be eaten. Small street performances and street comedy are performed in many places. A special children's program is available at the Spiellinie. Kiel Week is also one of the largest tall ship conventions in Germany, attracting many German and international traditional ships, mainly sailing ships. Many of them spend the week doing day tours out of Kiel, thus berthing much more in view of the festival visitors than the racing boats at Kiel-Schilksee. More than 100 traditional ships and hundreds of yachts usually participate in the Tall Ships Parade (Windjammer‎parade) on the day before the closing day of the Kiel Week, i.e. usually on the second Saturday of Kiel Week. The Parade was first held in 1972, under the name of Operation Sail, and was organized in celebration of the Olympic Summer Games in Germany that year, whose sailing competitions took place in Kiel. It was the first large gathering of tall ships since the time of the windjammers, and its success led to the annual Parade and to the foundation of the first sail training organization in Germany (Clipper DJS). Today, the Parade is often headed by the Gorch Fock, a sister ship to the German-built USCGC Eagle (WIX-327).

Kiel Week Poster and Enamel Plaques

Since 1948, advertises an annual Kiel Week poster for the festival week. Their design is another example of the cultural positioning and visual-design tradition of the Kieler Woche. In this context represents a jury put together a selection of graphic designers and then invites them to a competition for the corporate design of the festival week. An invitation is already an honor, because the design contest enjoys a high reputation and many designs have been awarded national and international prizes. Among other things, the following graphic artists designed for the Kiel Week: Ernst Irmler (1953), Anton Stankowski (1962), Hans Hillmann (1964), Michael Engelmann (1965), Bruno K. Wiese (1971 & 1982), Rolf Müller (, 1972), Otto Treumann (1975), Ruedi Baur (1986), Rosemarie Tissi (1990), Hans Günther Schmitz (1992), Christof Gassner (1993), Siegfried Odermatt (1994), Barbara & Gerd Baumann (1995), Wim Crouwel (1998 ), Fons M. Hickmann (2002), Klaus Hesse (2006), Markus Dressen (2007), Peter Zizka (2008), Henning Wagenbreth (2009), Andrew and Jeffrey Goldstein (2010), Melchior Imboden (2011) and Stefan Guzy and Björn re (2015). The series of Kieler Woche playcards considered as a reflection of the recent graphic story. The motifs are applied to many objects and almost all of these – mostly developed by the competition winner himself – applications reach after a short time collector status. Even before WWII annual enamel plaques were made as memento for the competitors.

History

Winners

Contender

Men's Europe

Women's Europe

Open Europe

Finn

ILCA 4 (formerly known as Laser 4.7)

Men's ILCA 6 (formerly known as Laser Radial)

Women's ILCA 6 (formerly known as Laser Radial)

Open ILCA 6 (formerly known as Laser Radial)

ILCA 7 (formerly known as Laser)

Moth

Musto Skiff

OK

Waszp

420

Men's 470

Women's 470

Mixed 470

505

29er

29er XX

49er

49er FX

Flying Dutchman

Pirat

RS 800

12 Metre

2.4 Metre

5.5 Metre

Albin Express

B/one

Dehler 29

Dragon

Elliott 6m

Farr 30

H-boat

Hansa 303

J/24

J/70

J/80

Kielzugvogel

Melges 24

Nordic Folkboat

Platu 25

SB 20

Soling

Sonar

Star

Yngling

A-cat

Formula 18

Hobie 16

Nacra 17

Tornado

Men's Iqfoil

Women's Iqfoil

Men's Mistral

Women's Mistral

Men's RS:X

Women's RS:X