The Kieler Woche is a jährliche (annual) sailing regatta, which takes place in Kiel seit (since) 1882. Today it is the biggest sailing event in the world. And at the same time it is the biggest summer festival in northern Europe.

Beside the sailing contests, a umfangreiches (extensive) program is offered to the Besucher (visitors) of the Kieler Woche. The performances of international bands and Künstler (artists) that take place in 300 concerts on 16 stages are very beliebt (popular) and show a big variety of different styles. So everyone will find something that he likes. Zusätzlich (in addition) to this, local bands and artists perform as well on smaller Bühnen (stages).

The every year maritime highlight is the “Windjammerparade” on the last Samstag (Saturday) of the Kieler Woche. More than 100 traditional ships, big sailing ships, historical Dampfschiffe (steamboats) as well as hundreds of sailing yachts participate in this event. As special guests you can also see marine ships from other countries.

Take a look at the (German) video “The Kieler Wocher in 100 seconds”:

Another highlight is the award of the World Economic Science Prize by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Kiel is situated in the most northerly of Germany´s Bundesstaaten (federal states). The city has only about 240.000 Einwohner (inhabitants) but around three million visitors are attracted by the Kieler Woche! To support the idea of a better international understanding, Sprachkurse (language courses) will be held for free.

This year the Kieler Woche takes place from June 19^th to 27^th.

For living in the south of Germany, unfortunately I never had the chance to visit the festival personally. But I guess this is a lot of fun!

For more information about the Kieler Woche, visit the website:

http://www.kieler-woche.de/