Sports at the 830th HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY Premiere for the “Hamburg Active City Championships 2019”

Sports and competitions at the world’s greatest port festival from 10 to 12 May
 
Hamburg, 16 April 2019 – The HafenCity district will become an open-air sports arena at the 830th HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY, celebrating the spirit of sport and fun exercise for all – fitting in perfectly with the Hamburg Senate’s “Active City” strategy. The Hamburg Active City Championships will be held for the first time at the world’s greatest port festival, from 10 to 12 May, giving visitors a chance to get involved in various sports such as beach volleyball, hockey or wheelchair basketball. The patron of the event is Andy Grote, Hamburg’s Minister of Sport.
 
The range of activities taking place around the Marco-Polo-Terrassen in Hamburg’s HafenCity district includes not only sports on land, but also classic watersports such as sailing and dragon boat racing. Spectators can get a close-up view of the in-water activities at the Grasbrookhafen watersports arena. The Active City Championships are great for families that want a relaxed approach to the HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY and would like to take part in the sports themselves. Grasbrookhafen and Marco-Polo-Terrassen are also the ideal place to watch the fireworks on the Saturday evening,” says Torsten Hock, Managing Director of the festival’s marketing and communication partner Hock und Partner, which is responsible for organising the Hamburg Active City Championships.
 
Smash, dribble and yoga for all
The Active City course is ideal for those who want to participate. The various stations along the route have facilities for children and adults alike to try out the individual sports and demonstrate their skills. For example, to dribble a ball along a slalom course with a hockey stick, or to test their smash skills for beach volleyball. “We issue a pass to all the participants, and they can have it stamped at each section they complete. There is a little prize for people who complete the whole course with all the sports,” explains Torsten Hock. And for yoga, the organisers have thought up something special – “We start yoga for all at 10:00 each morning, inviting all comers to join in.”
 
Each of the sports is represented by an appropriate Hamburg club or association. For beach volleyball that is the Hamburg Volleyball Association, and for hockey it is the Harvesterhuder Tennis- und Hockey-Club. Wheelchair basketball is presented by BG Basket of the Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V., and yoga by Hamburger Turnerbund von 1865 e.V. The clubs and associations give information on their respective sports, present training opportunities, and give tips on the right equipment and kit.
 
Sailing fun and championship races
There are also lots of in-water activities at the Hamburg Active City Championships. The programme is varied and exciting, from taster sailing for beginners to team regattas for the German Championship. The sailing activities are run by Mühlenberger Segel Club e.V. Both children and adults can get their first sailing experience on the Friday, with expert guidance. Young talents in the clubs will be the focus of the races on the Saturday. And Sunday also has excitement with the team race for Optimist dinghies – teams of four will compete in this event. The regattas are a part of the German Championship series in this class of boats. The event will be presented by sailing expert and well-known sports journalist André Keil, who runs the NDR Baltic Sea studio in Rostock. Between events he will welcome guests including Olympic champions, youth teams and club presidents, and talk to them about their sports.
 
Dragon boat races competing for the 30th Hamburg Hafencup
The Hamburg Hafencup, Germany’s oldest dragon boat race, has been held since 1989. It will be run in parallel with the HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY again this year, and is now a regular feature of the world’s greatest port festival. It is organised by the 1st Hamburger Drachenclub e.V. This 30th anniversary event will present spectacular races in exotic multi-coloured dragon boats at Grasbrookhafen. On the Friday, Hamburg institutions will go head-to-head, and on Saturday it is the turn of the club teams. The final event on the Sunday will be the races of company teams and fun teams. The 30th Hamburg Hafencup is held under the patronage of Senator Michael Westhagemann and Mei-Shun Lo, the new Director-General of the Hamburg branch of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany.
 
APPsolut information
The programme for the world’s greatest harbour festival is as varied as its visitors. Information on the various activities, programmes and tours is available in the free-of-charge HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY app, available via iTunes and Google Play. Many of the functions of the app can be used even without an Internet connection.
 
The HAMBURG PORT ANNIVERSARY would like to thank all its sponsors, especially its longstanding principal sponsor AIDA Cruises. Thanks to their support, the world’s greatest port festival thrills more than a million visitors from all parts of the world every year.