Hamburg Cruise Days © Manuel Lebowsky, bcsmedia Hamburg 2012, www.hamburgcruisedays.de
Hamburg, ‘Gateway to the World’ and Germany’s biggest port city, will bring the world of cruising on dry land the first weekend of August at the maritime event Hamburg Cruise Days 2014. Running from 1st to 3rd of August, Hamburg’s Port and the four-kilometre long area stretching from the Hamburg Cruise Center HafenCity along the river Elbe to the Cruise Center Altona, will transform into a stunning stage for cruise ships and maritime culture. Six impressive cruise liners will grace the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Europe’s cruise capital of the North – in 2013 almost 200 cruise ships called in. This will be the 2014 line-up dropping anchor at Europe’s largest public three-day-cruise-themed event: AIDAluna, AIDAstella, the newest cruise ship in the AIDA fleet, the Deutschland, famous as the setting for the German television series “Das Traumschiff” (The Dreamboat), the MS Delphin, MS Europa and MSC Magnifica.
One of the Event Highlights 2014 during the fourth edition of Hamburg Cruise Days will be the Grand Hamburg Cruise Days Parade on Saturday, starting at 9:30 pm – with elaborately illuminated cruise ships and countless escort ships travelling down the Elbe river by night in the setting of the magic light art installation BLUE PORT! Created by the internationally renowned light artist Michael Batz, it will bathe the harbor, many historic Hamburg sights, buildings and bridges in a magical blue light. The official „Light Up“ is set to fire up already some days before the events’ start, scheduled for the 28th of July at the Elbphilharmonie. The Blue Port Hamburg will illuminate the port and the waterfront every evening after sunset until the 3rd of August 2014. View more BLUE PORT impressions here! Ahoy gateway to the world!